Jennifer Emmi, the Evergreen attorney accused of conspiring to kill her estranged husband’s girlfriend, has pleaded guilty to seven felonies and four misdemeanors in a plea deal and will be sentenced at 1 p.m. Aug. 16.
The charges she has pleaded guilty to, which were provided to the Canyon Courier by Emmi’s attorney, include solicitation to commit second-degree murder, menacing, heat-of-passion strangulation, attempting to influence a judge, violation of a bail bond, retaliation against a witness and stalking. The misdemeanors are two counts of child abuse, criminal mischief, reckless driving and tampering.
According to Colin Bresee, Emmi’s attorney, the prosecution is asking for the sentence to include prison time, and the defense is asking for probation.
Emmi, 43, also known as Jennifer Edwards, is an animal rights attorney, who began The Animal Law Center and is a media celebrity for her work helping animals. She was originally charged with more than 16 felonies and 16 misdemeanors filed over the last 18 months. The rest of the charges will be dismissed.
In an affidavit filed Jan. 25 by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Emmi’s ex-husband told investigators that he was afraid Emmi would kill him, their three children and his girlfriend; his girlfriend, who is the family’s former au pair, told investigators she didn’t feel safe; and they had gone into hiding several times with the three children.
During a bond hearing in February, Bresee told the judge that the allegations that Emmi tried to solicit someone to kill her estranged husband’s girlfriend were blown out of proportion, and she had no intention of acting on the idea. She was simply a mom frustrated about the pending dissolution of her marriage and another woman in her children’s lives.
The arrest affidavit says Emmi asked a ranch hand about killing her estranged husband’s girlfriend. The ranch hand informed the husband and the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office about the request and said when he warned Emmi that her husband might be killed too, she replied: “I’m inclined to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak,” according to the affidavit.
Investigators also learned that Emmi approached another man who had been a trained military sniper about killing people for her, according to the affidavit. Neither has been charged with a crime.
Emmi repeatedly texted and emailed her husband and his girlfriend, conducted internet searches on “how to get rid of the other woman for good,” and tried but failed to have U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deport the girlfriend to Brazil, the affidavit said.