HARTFORD, CT – Two brothers, including a US Army sergeant, have been charged in Connecticut with conspiracy to commit murder. Sgt. Jeremiah Peikert, 30, and Joshua Peikert, 31, allegedly conspired to kill a woman, her boyfriend, and her two young daughters.
The plot was revealed in a criminal complaint stating that in 2022, while incarcerated at Corrigan Correctional Center, Joshua Peikert discussed hiring a hitman with a fellow inmate. The inmate, acting as a middleman, received $250 from Jeremiah Peikert as a finder’s fee for arranging the hit, which was priced at $10,000 per target.
Details provided by Joshua included the victims’ address, home layout, and location of a spare key. The plan was discussed under the guise of a “construction job,” but it was eventually disrupted when the supposed hitman was arrested.
The scheme came to light when the intermediary inmate disclosed the plot to the intended victim through a letter, asserting he never intended to follow through with the violence.