SRSO: Milton woman shot husband in throat. From jail, she hired a hitman to finish the job.
A woman awaiting trial for reportedly shooting her husband in the throat last year is facing new charges for allegedly trying to hire another inmate to kill him.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson announced that 50-year-old Stephanie Michelle Perdue of Milton and "the love of her life," David Paul Bollier, were charged with criminal conspiracy to commit a capital felony and solicitation of a capital felony for allegedly trying to hire a fellow Santa Rosa Jail inmate to kill Perdue's husband.
However, one of the people Perdue allegedly tried to hire while in jail was a confidential informant for the Sheriff's Office.
"The C.I. made some controlled calls to David there and discussed the method and how they're going to do it and payment," Johnson said during the press conference. "Finally, Stephanie promises to give one C.I. $10,000 to kill her husband."
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According to Perdue's warrant affidavit, she spoke with the C.I. on Feb. 2 about the "party planning" for her grandma, allegedly a reference to planning to kill her husband. The two allegedly spoke about giving her husband lethal levels of fentanyl when the C.I. was released on Feb. 3.
Perdue also allegedly told the informant to contact her boyfriend, Bollier, to "talk about money" and setup the code word "attorney" so they could discuss killing Perdue's husband.
Johnson said detectives gave Perdue a fake death notification on Feb. 3, but "she didn't seem too upset about it," according to Johnson.
The report notes Perdue was notified that her husband "was dead possibly due to an overdose," and that he "passed out in his vehicle, was unresponsive, turned blue in the face" and died after "life saving measures" were taken.
Detectives later interviewed Perdue on Feb. 6, questioning her about her grandma's party and why Bollier would need $10,000. However, during the interview, Perdue allegedly denied having a grandma in the area; she later recanted and said she did have a grandmother and were planning a "get together."
Perdue was then notified that her husband was alive and would be charged with conspiracy to kill her husband.
She is currently facing an aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charge, according to Johnson, after she shot her husband in the throat in April 2022.
After Perdue was released on bond, she violated a domestic violence injunction her husband requested — landing her back in jail where she allegedly decided to hire a hitman.
Johnson said during the press conference both Perdue and Bollier face up to 30 years in state prison for both felony counts.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Milton woman Stephanie Perdue arrested in murder-for-hire plot
