Angela Nolen, the Virginia kindergarten teacher hired inadvertently an undercover police, believing he was a hitman, in a plot to kill her ex-husband, Paul Strickler. Nolen was busted along with her friend, Cathy Bennett, a 37-year-old nurse at her school, in a scheme worth about $8,500 to knock off her ex-beau, the New York Daily News and The Roanoke Times reported. Nolen was charged with solicitation to commit murder, and Bennett was charged with accessory to solicitation.
Nolen allegedly met with an undercover state police agent on February 19, asking him to take her husband's life. She reportedly promised the agent more than $4,000 up front and another $4,000 when the job was finished. State police heard of her alleged scheme from an anonymous tip. Bennett was charged by authorities for helping Nolen orchestrate the murder for hire plot, state police Captain George Austin said.The police would not say where Nolen met the undercover agent. Authorities declined to describe the possible motive and steps the women took to procure an assassin.
Records at Franklin County Circuit Court show that Nolen and Strickler were granted a divorce in December 2012. He told authorities that they met within the school system where she worked at Snow Creek Elementary School in Franklin County as a schools administrator in the central office. Strickler said they had recently been trying to work out an arrangement in which Nolen would buy their house from him.
Still to be determined, though, is the fate of the couple's 7-year-old adopted daughter, Strickler said. Nolen had full custody of her at the time of her arrest. He said he anticipates a custody hearing will take place soon. The estranged couple are scheduled to appear in Franklin County General District Court for bond hearings but Nolen told reporters that he remains "afraid for my life. I still feel that way. If someone knocks on my door, I won't answer it, I'll dial 911," he said.
