Canadians charged in murder-for-hire scheme

October 21, 2008 07:47 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent

Two Canadian men are in custody in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire plot in which a key meeting took place in Boston.

Nicholas Djokich, 57, of Calgary, Alberta, and Eginardo Deangelis, 72, of La Salle, Quebec, were arrested by federal agents after they allegedly tried to hire an undercover agent to kidnap, extort and murder a man with whom Djokich and other investors had lost money in an investment deal gone sour.

Djokich believed he had been defrauded of his money and sought revenge, prosecutors said. The prospective victim, another Canadian national living in the Bahamas, would have been kidnapped in Florida and murdered after being forced to wire millions of dollars to Djokich.

But when the two went looking for someone to carry out their plans, they found a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement informant who introduced them to a federal agent posing as a hit man, the US Attorney's office said in a statement.

In August, Deangelis gave the agent a $10,000 advance payment at a meeting in Vermont. Djokich and the agent met in Boston last Wednesday and agreed on a total price of $40,000 for the hit, prosecutors said.

Djokich was arrested Saturday in Los Angeles, where he was on a business trip. Deangelis was arrested Monday in Atlantic City. They were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping for extortion and conspiracy to commit murder. If convicted, they face life in prison and fines of up to $250,000.