Pediatrician pleads guilty to hiring hitman to kill ex-husband

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE/Gray News) – A former pediatrician in Kentucky charged with trying to kill her ex-husband in a murder-for-hire plot has pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Dr. Stephanie Russell entered a guilty plea before her trial began Monday, according to the case manager for Judge David Hale.

Russell pleaded guilty to two counts of a federal indictment charging her with using a facility in interstate commerce, or causing another person to travel in interstate commerce, in the attempted murder-for-hire of her ex-husband, as well as aiding and abetting interstate stalking of her ex-husband.

During custody litigation between Dec. 1, 2018, and Aug. 9, 2019, a news release says Russell, aided by a person, “J.S.,” who traveled to Louisville from Michigan, “engaged in conduct that caused and attempted to cause her former husband substantial emotional distress, and Russell did so with the intent to harass and intimidate him.”

The release said Russell encouraged J.S. to harass her ex-husband and provided J.S. with a burner phone to use while doing so.

The harassing conduct also included visiting her ex-husband’s office unannounced, “pretending to be a WAVE-3 reporter and leaving [her ex-husband] accusatory voicemails from the phone provided by Russell on [her ex-husband]’s phone, entering [her ex-husband]’s garage and leaving a note inside the garage pretending to be a reporter writing a derogatory story that could involve [her ex-husband], and by leaving fliers, with [her ex-husband]’s photograph and other personal identifying information, on cars at [her ex-husband]’s office.”

The fliers were defamatory in nature and were intended to be viewed by her ex-husband’s co-workers, supervisors and potentially clients.

Russell was arrested May 19, 2022, after court records say she contacted a person to kill her ex-husband. She agreed to pay the person, who was actually an undercover FBI employee, $7,000.

An affidavit also states she wanted her ex-husband dead so she could regain custody of the couple’s two children.

Full custody had been awarded to her ex-husband in 2020 after Russell accused him of physically and sexually abusing the children. A judge said she found no evidence to support Russell’s claims.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service said during the plea hearing Russell experienced some type of medical episode. She received treatment from a deputy marshal.

Russell will be sentenced by Hale on July 31.

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