SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A Mishawaka man, accused of raping a 7-year-old girl, is now facing attempted murder charges after trying to hire an undercover detective to kill his father-in-law and a man he suspected was sleeping with his wife.
According to court documents, 31-year-old Joshua Cassel is accused of forcing a 7-year-old girl to perform oral sex on him and raping her in April of this year. Investigators processed DNA evidence found on the child’s private parts, receiving the results in August and arresting Cassel on Child Molestation charges on August 6th. Cassel has been in the St. Joseph County Jail since then. According to new court documents, this month he started plotting a murder for hire against an old friend and his father-in-law.
Court documents allege Cassel initially asked another inmate if he could help facilitate a murder-for-hire against a friend he believed was sleeping with his estranged wife. That inmate said he may be able to help and then contacted police.
The South Bend Police Department began an undercover investigation in which an undercover detective posed as the hitman. According to court documents, Cassel provided the detective hand-drawn maps and info on when and where they could find the target of the murder plot. He planned to pay the hitman $5,000 to kill the man he believed was sleeping with his wife. He planned to get that money from his tax refund and by telling his grandmother he needed the cash to pay for legal fees.
Later, Cassel decided he wanted his father-in-law murdered as well, claiming his father-in-law was preventing him from speaking with his estranged wife. Cassel once again provided a hand drawn map and a details telling the undercover detective when and where his father-in-law could be found, according to court documents.
You can read the entire narrative of the plot and investigation below:
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