Solicitation To Murder Wife Charge Dismissed

Daniel Smith made a bad joke at work to the wrong person, and ended up in jail, accused of soliciting the co-worker to murder Smith’s wife.The State Attorney’s Office has elected not to file criminal charges against Daniel Preston Smith following an investigation into an allegation of solicitation to commit murder.

“It was a bad joke, but still just a joke,” commented his attorney, Michael Kessler, after his client’s release from the Hillsborough County Jail in Tampa.

As Kessler pointed out to the judge at Smith’s bond hearing following his arrest, no money changed hands, or was even agreed to. No specific plan was discussed. No time frame, or method. Should it look like an accident, or disappearance, or crime scene. No weapon was discussed. No location, either, neither home nor away. Was it to be the wrench, the lead pipe or the candlestick, in the ballroom, the kitchen or maybe the conservatory, as in the board game Clue?

There were no text messages or emails. The police did not even try to conduct a controlled phone call before deciding this was a serious plot.

Even his wife knew it was only his “dark sense of humor”. “As my husband well knows,” she deadpanned, “I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer a few months ago. My husband and I are both well aware that the prognosis for any type of cancer that metastasizes to the liver is not good. It makes no sense for Daniel to pay someone to kill me given my current health, when he might just need to be a little patient and let nature take its course.”

After determining that no evidence to suggest that this was a serious solicitation, the prosecutor’s office dropped the charge.

“After completing our investigation, carefully reviewing the facts, and applying the applicable case law, the State Attorney’s Office has elected not to file criminal charges at this time,” the prosecutor wrote in filing the dismissal document.

The decision brings an end to the prospect of criminal prosecution against Smith arising from the investigation.

“It’s just a shame for him and his family that the police didn’t do more investigating before arresting Mr. Smith in the first place,” Kessler opined.