Woman wanted ex-fiance ‘6 feet under,’ arrested after hiring hitman, police say

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A woman in Colorado has been charged with attempting to hire an undercover cop to kill her former fiance.

“In the last 20, almost 30 hours, everything has just completely changed,” Timothy Hanes said.

Hanes said his former fiancee, 33-year-old Vanessa Lavaty, was the love of his life. But that was before Colorado Springs police informed him she tried to give an undercover cop $500 to murder him.

“She contracted to have me killed. I haven’t slept since I found out about this,” Hanes said.

According to arrest documents, Lavaty told another man, her current boyfriend, that she wanted Hanes “six feet under.”

Lavaty’s boyfriend reportedly told police he originally didn’t believe her until she continued to bring up wanting her ex-fiance dead. He then contacted police, who set up an undercover operation.

The arresting officer in the case said Lavaty went to a Wells Fargo bank to withdraw cash, and she gave an undercover officer $500 as a down payment for the hit, with the understanding that Hanes was going to be murdered.

Arrest documents say Lavaty told the undercover officer the hit had “been on her mind for over a year.”

“The safety of my daughter is the only thing that’s going through my mind right now. It’s the only thing that matters to me,” Hanes said.

On Wednesday, a judge granted Lavaty a $75,000 bond.

“I have to worry about what is good for my daughter now and make sure that I’m in that courtroom to tell the judge that there’s no way that she should have a right to roam free until she gets the help she needs,” Hanes said.

According to an affidavit, the undercover cop said Lavaty thought he had “connections” to people who would complete a murder for hire because of his criminal background.

Lavaty was also reportedly prepared to pay up to $4,000 for the hit.