True Crime: 5 Real Life Murder Plots In Buffalo
I am a true crime junkie. I'm always watching a documentary about crime. These 8 crimes are the kind of stuff you see on the ID Channel, HLN, or Oxygen. You never think it will happen to you or someone you know, but there are people in Buffalo and Western New York who have hired a hitman to kill someone they want to get rid of. Here are 5 crazy murder-for-hire crimes that happened here in WNY.
Benito Lendof-Gonzalez - 2016
Benito, of Lockport, was convicted of two separate murder-for-hire plots. In May, Benito was in jail on charges that he held his wife, Kayleigh Schmidt, captive in their home and threatened to kill her and himself in a murder-suicide. While he was being held in the Niagara County Jail, Benito tried to hire another inmate to kill Schmidt and her mother to prevent them from testifying against him. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, and one count of criminal solicitation. He received a sentence of 17 years to life in prison for that conviction. Then in September, he plotted to kill again. He was convicted of trying to have a Niagara County corrections officer killed. He received an additional sentence of 2 1/3 to 7-years behind bars for the second murder-for-hire plot. The crazy part is, his conviction for the murder-for-hire plots was recently overturned,
In a 4 to 3 ruling, the New York State Court of Appeals affirmed an earlier decision by the State Supreme Court Appellate Division Fourth Department that reversed a jury verdict that found Benito Lendof-Gonzalez guilty on three counts of first- and second-degree attempted murder.
Credit: WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY via Youtube
Debra Arno - 2015
Debra Arno, 57, of Amherst, pleaded guilty to trying to have her ex-husband and his new wife killed. Police received a tip about the murder-for-hire plot in May of 2015. Lauren Frye, 57, of Buffalo, was also involved in the plot. Police searched her apartment and found three shotguns, pictures of Debra's ex and his wife, a diagram of their house, and their schedule. Debra had offered Lauren $20,000 to kill the couple.
Credit: WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY via Youtube
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Richard Matt and David Telstar - 1991
David, a wealthy California man, ended up in the Erie County Holding Center for allegedly embezzling $1.6 million from his ex-wife. Once he was released from the Holding Center, he bailed out Richard. He then tried to hire Richard to kill his ex-wife, Desiree Telstar, and her parents, Stanley Sheinbaum and Betty Warner Sheinbaum. Her mother was the daughter of Harry Warner, one of the founders of Warner Bros. studio. Instead of killing the targets, Richard turned David over to the police. David pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and received a 5-year prison sentence. His story wouldn't end there, though. He was convicted of murdering his boss and eventually escaped from prison, and was killed during the manhunt.
Credit: WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY via Youtube
Anthony Pignataro - 1999
With one death already under his belt, Dr. Pignataro, a WNY plastic surgeon, tried to kill his wife. He was convicted of killing a patient, Sarah Smith from Depew, during a procedure. Upon his release from jail, he tried to kill his wife, Deborah, with arsenic. He then tried to set up a murder-for-hire plot against a witness from the Erie County Holding Center. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Credit: WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY via Youtube
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Robin Kalinowski - 2009
On November 10, 2005, Robin shot and killed her husband, who was asleep in bed. Initially, believing the incident to be an accident, she was not convicted. After a two-year investigation, Robin was charged with her husband's murder. She went to trial, but on October 1, 2008, a mistrial was declared. After a second trial in Erie County, she was convicted and sentenced to 25 year-to-life in prison. In 2009, Robin conspired with a hitman, who was really an undercover officer, to have a key prosecution witness killed. She was convicted and sentenced to six to 12 years behind bars, but it did not add any additional time to her sentence.
Credit: WIVBTV via Youtube
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