A Kansas mother in jail for allegedly trying to poison her three children is accused of trying to hire a hitman to murder her husband while she was still behind bars.
Therese Roever, 37, was charged in February with attempted capital murder after leading officers to believe she poisoned her nine-year-old girl, her twin brother, and seven-year-old son, at their home in Olathe, during a custody battle.
Now it appears that, while awaiting her trial, she attempted to have her ex-husband John murdered.
John Roever was contacted by a relative of another Johnson County jail inmate in July who told him his ex was looking for a hitman to kill him, Kansas City Star reports.
Therese Roever, 37, of Olathe, Kansas, who is in jail for allegedly trying to poison her three children, is accused of trying to hire a hitman to murder her husband while she was still behind bars
John Roever (pictured) was contacted by a relative of another Johnson County jail inmate in July who told him his ex was looking for a hitman to kill him
Court documents say Roever told another inmate she would rather die in prison or have the children go to foster care, than have her ex-husband get custody.
John called the police who interviewed the other inmate, who is not being named.
They told officers Roever had been asking around if anyone knew someone who would kill her ex for money, and had asked if the inmate’s son would do it.
‘Roever was adamant that she wanted Mr. Roever out of the picture,’ according to the document made public Friday.
Roever, 37, was charged in February with attempted capital murder after leading officers to believe she poisoned her nine-year-old girl, her twin brother, and seven-year-old son (pictured with her)
Roever lost custody of her three kids in 2016 for making ‘false claims’ about their father
The inmate said the suspect provided her with her ex’s address, phone number and vehicle description to pass on to the hitman.
The inmate’s son then visited Roever in jail on September 2 wearing a hidden camera, as part of police sting. During that discussion, she reportedly told him she wanted John to ‘disappear’.
He then asked if Roever meant sshe wanted him ‘permanently out of the picture.’
Roever was seen in the undercover footage responding by smiling and shaking her head.
Roever is now also charged with a second count of attempted capital murder for the murder plot.
The mother-of-three was first arrested in February this year when police were called out to her home located at the 1700 block of North Lennox Street, after John went to pick up the kids to return them back to his home, where they lived full time.
The children, who live full-time with their engineer father, were getting ready to head back to his place before their mother allegedly poisoned them in an attempted murder scheme
John, a GIS Analyst II for Ervin Cable Construction, called the police after hearing his ex-wife was trying to have him killed
When he arrived at Roever’s home, where the children had been on a scheduled visit, he banged on the door but found there was no answer.
The police were called and found the three children in need of immediate medical attention after their mother allegedly overdosed them on medication.
‘Thankfully the children are recovering and should be returning home very soon,’ John’s attorney said in a statement.
One neighbor to the mom said he saw her several times ‘passed out on her balcony’, according to the news station.
Court records reveal Roever and and her ex-husband John divorced back in 2016.
Roever lost custody of her three kids at some point around the time for making ‘false claims’ about their father, the news stations says.
However, in November, a judge granted the mom unsupervised visitation rights – which will likely be revoked, Johnson County district attorney Steve Howe said.
Howe confirmed on Twitter the case is currently under review, while announcing in a new post Roever would appear in court for the first time Wednesday afternoon.
Roever, who is devoutly Christian according to her social media pages, has been booked to the Johnson County jail on $1,000,000 bond.