COEUR D'ALENE -- Prosecutors say a North Idaho attorney accused of plotting to kill his wife and mother-in-law as part of a murder-for-hire plan used silver pieces to pay the hitman.
At a detention hearing Monday, a federal judge ruled Edgar Steele will remain in jail on the murder-for-hire charges.
Prosecutors say Larry Fairfax has admitted to his role in the plot, including building and placing a bomb on Steele's wife's vehicle on May 30. According to the FBI, Steele wanted the bomb to go off on June 11, when his wife, Cyndi, was traveling to Oregon to visit her mother.
According to prosecutors, Steele paid Fairfax $10,000 in silver pieces because he distrusts the U.S. currency system and had a stockpile.
Fairfax told investigators he thought the bomb may have fallen off Cyndi's vehicle, and even traveled to Oregon to see if they could find it. Despite informing police and wearing a wire during conversations with Steele, prosecutors say at no point did Fairfax tell law enforcement that a bomb was already in place on Cyndi's vehicle.
Fairfax's wife and son testified in federal court Monday. Both said they "somewhat feared for their family's safety" and that Fairfax never mentioned any part of the plan.
