Update: Houston Veterinarian Charged With Hiring Hitman Is Out Of Jail On Bond

UPDATED ON MARCH 14, 2017: Valerie McDaniel, the Houston veterinarian who was arrested last week and charged with solicitation of capital murder, is out of jail on bond.

McDaniel and her boyfriend, Leon Jacob, are accused of hiring a hitman to kill their former significant others.

In a new development in the case, McDaniel's lawyer, Matt Alford, told KTRK that his client did not really know what was happening as the scheme unfolded.

"If any involvement whatsoever by Valerie McDaniel, which I'm not admitting to that, but what I'm saying is, she clearly came into this situation after the fact. She was on no one's radar until the very end of the investigation, is my understanding," Alford said.

Jacob has been denied bail.

UPDATED ON MARCH 13, 2017: Houston police officials said today that the would-be victims of Valerie McDaniel and Leon Jacob cooperated with authorities and assisted in the staging of murder and kidnap schemes planned by McDaniel and Jacob. The photographing of the staged crimes was designed as proof to convince the pair, who are in jail facing solicitation of capital murder charges, that their plans had been carried out.

In addition, The Houston Chronicle reported that law enforcement officials learned weeks ago that Jacob was seeking to have his ex-girlfriend killed and had agreed to give a man $10,000 to carry out the plan. The man, who was not identified, cooperated with authorities and arranged a meeting between Jacob and an undercover officer posing as a hitman.

McDaniel and Jacob appeared in court today.

HOUSTON, TX — Valerie McDaniel, a mother of two young daughters, and her boyfriend, Leon Jacob, are charged with attempting to hire the services of a hitman, their goal being the murder of their respective exes.

KTRK reported that the pair lived together and devised a plan to kill their former partners. McDaniel, 48, is a veterinarian on the staff of the Montrose Veterinary Clinic. Jacob, 39, was charged earlier this year with stalking and assault charges.

Police officials said McDaniel and Jacob were willing to pay upwards of $10,000 to the hitman, who was in reality an undercover police officer.

Tom Berg, Harris County assistant district attorney, said McDaniel's intended victim was her ex-husband. Jacob's target was his girlfriend, the complainant in the stalking case.

"Unwittingly, they of course end up with a hitman who's working for the Houston Police Department," Berg said.

Berg added that McDaniel and Jacob met the "hitman" at a Houston Olive Garden, where they discussed the plan and payment arrangements. McDaniel's ex-husband would, according to the scheme, be murdered in a shooting staged to look like a carjacking, while Jacob's ex-girlfriend was to be kidnapped and killed if she did not cooperate.

Cindy Funderburke, who owns animals that have been cared for by McDaniel, told KTRK that she could not believe the charges.

"Shocked. No way she could do something like this," Funderburke said. "There is something just not right about this. It does not add up. This is not the Dr. McDaniel that her clients and her employees and coworkers know and love."

McDaniel and Jacob are detained in the Harris County jail without bond, charged with solicitation of capital murder. They are scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

— Image: Montrose Veterinary Clinic