U.S. Army sergeant arrested in Connecticut murder-for-hire scheme

MONTVILLE, Conn. (WTNH) — A second man, who is the original suspect’s brother and a U.S. Army sergeant, was arrested Thursday in connection to a murder-for-hire scheme to kill four people, including two juveniles, in Connecticut.

Police arrested Jeremiah Peikert, 30, the brother of previously arrested Joshua Peikert, 32. Joshua was an inmate at the Corrigan Correctional Center in Uncasville when police said he was allegedly planning a murder scheme with his cellmate.

He called his brother Jeremiah for money to get the “construction job” done, police said.

According to police, Joshua was allegedly conspiring to kill a 29-year-old female, a 23-year-old adult male, a 10-year-old female and a one-year-old female.

Police found that the two juveniles were the 29-year-old woman’s kids, and the 23-year-old man was her boyfriend.

Officers said that Joshua Peikert’s former cellmate at Corrigan Correctional Center sent a handwritten letter to the 29-year-old female victim explaining the murder-for-hire plot scheme, which is how police got involved.

The 29-year-old immediately contacted Groton police when she received the inmate’s letter, officers said. State police began an investigation in October 2022.

When the former cellmate was at Corrigan, Peikert hired him to find a hitman for the murder, police said.

The former cellmate told police that he let Joshua know it would cost about $10,000 for each person to be killed. Joshua said that was doable and that he would provide half up front, according to police.

The former cellmate told police he had no intention of hiring a hitman, he only wanted the money. He also told police that he never contacted anyone for the hitman job.

Police said Joshua handed the inmate a note with the victims’ address, where they each slept, where the hitman could find a spare key and signed the note at the bottom with the word “Job” and his first and last name.

A short time later, Joshua’s brother, Jeremiah paid the former cellmate a first installment of $100, a second installment of $150 and a $500 “finder’s fee”, according to police.

Joshua was later bailed out and spoke to his former cellmate about the “construction job” and “materials”, which the inmate told police were all code words for the murder scheme.

Police said Joshua was back in jail two weeks after his release and asked the former cellmate why the job hadn’t been done yet. The former cellmate told police he lied and said that Jeremiah messed up the transfer.

The former cellmate then wrote the aforementioned letter to the 29-year-old victim, telling police he feared for her safety.

He also told police he learned Josh had put out a hit for him.

During the investigation, police determined that many of the details in the former cellmate’s story were true after viewing different monetary transactions and phone call records.

Police also found multiple phone conversations with Joshua and Jeremiah, as well as Jeremiah and the former cellmate.

State police traveled to Texas on Dec. 17, 2023, to meet Jeremiah on Dec. 19, 2023. The detectives and Jeremiah met in a private interview room that had audio and video recording.

Jeremiah said he was not initially aware the meeting was with Connecticut State Police detectives. In the private interview, he told police his brother asked him to transfer money into another inmate’s account, which he did.

Jeremiah told police he knew the “construction job” was not related to actual construction, and he knew it was to hurt the 29-year-old female. However, he said he did not know the kids were involved, police said.

He told police he initially did not want to be involved and he thought about telling police, knowing he should have.

Officers said Jeremiah told them that Joshua often displayed violent and manipulative tendencies, so he was not surprised that Joshua wanted to hurt the 29-year-old female.

Police obtained an arrest warrant for Jeremiah and charged him with conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit risk of injury to minors.

Josh is currently facing the same charges and being held at the Connecticut Department of Correction.

Jeremiah did not post the bond of $500,000 and was scheduled to appear in court Friday in New London.

Police said that no one was injured throughout the time of the scheme.

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