Police Arrest Murder-for-Hire Suspect

An Annapolis man was arrested last week for allegedly seeking to hire a contract killer in Virginia to murder his wife, Leesburg Police officials said.

Wendell Brian Mansel was arrested Friday and charged with attempted capital murder/murder for hire and soliciting murder for hire, the department said Tuesday.

He is being held without bond, police said.

Leesburg police said a Leesburg man told officers earlier this year that Mansel approached him asking for his help in finding and hiring a contract killer. After learning of Mansel's plans, police said they launched an investigation with an undercover officer, who communicated with Mansel as a hit man.

Police said Mansel traveled to Leesburg multiple times over the past several weeks to meet with the officer, whom he believed was a hit man, to create a plan to have his wife killed.

While the plan was being made, the Leesburg Police Department (LPD) worked with Anne Arundel County police investigators to protect Mansel's wife as the investigation continued, the department said.

Last Friday, police officials said Mansel came to Leesburg for what he believed was his final meeting with the hit man, delivering a gun and valuables intended to be partial payment for the murder.

Mansel was arrested after the delivery.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force assisted LPD throughout the investigation, the department said.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.