Defendant allegedly used code to instruct hit man to murder wife

"He stated to the inmate that he should either make it look like natural causes or that he should kill and bury her in a way that her body would never be found,'' Haggan said of the plan against the wife.

Ironically, Corliss's wife, Jacqueline Silvia Corliss, died from natural causes after he hatched his alleged plot, officials said. She allegedly drove the getaway car on the day of the shooting, but then provided information to Boston police detectives that led them to her husband and to the recovery of the suspected murder weapon from Revere Beach.

Corliss's murder-for-hire plan was quickly discovered by police because the inmate Corliss hoped would carry out the killings alerted authorities. Boston police posed as the hit man and collected letters Corliss sent from prison detailing his plans, Haggan said.

Corliss's defense attorney, John Hayes, said the words of the prison inmate should be viewed with great skepticism.

"He is himself an inmate, a convict, someone who had every interest to curry favor from police,'' Hayes said. "If you get in good contact with Mr. Corliss, you could very well use that to your benefit.''

Haggan, however, said that the unidentified inmate did not get any benefit from authorities.

Corliss promised the unidentified man $2 million in cash, a portion of the $9 million Corliss expected to collect from an armored car robbery he planned to pull off after he escaped from custody, Haggan said.

Corliss allegedly provided a hand drawn map of where his wife was then living. He also provided a calendar showing where she would be on certain dates, prosecutors allege.

"Specifically, he told the inmate he wanted him to kidnap his wife and kill her,'' prosecutors allege in court records.

He also allegedly told the hit man that he should blow up the apartment of a second witness, according to court records. Corliss told the hit man that the witness was "careless with his stove,'' which could be used to kill the man and mask the killing as an accidental explosion, prosecutors allege.

Corliss pleaded not guilty to three counts of witness intimidation. Assistant Clerk Magistrate Connie Wong set bail at $4 million cash. Corliss is already being held without bail for the murder case.

Corliss was on parole for the 1971 murder of an unarmed store clerk in Salisbury at the time of Jamaica Plain killing.