Background: The Outagamie County Courthouse in Appleton, Wis. (Google Maps). Inset: Lindsey Fuecht (Outagamie County Sheriff”s Office).
A Wisconsin woman allegedly wanted to have her mother killed for not reporting a claim of sexual abuse to police, saying “I love her” but “she’s gotta go, she’s ruining my life.”
Lindsey Fuecht, 43, appeared via Zoom on Tuesday for a court hearing in Wisconsin’s Outagamie County after being charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide. According to a criminal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime, Fuecht allegedly told someone that she had been “fondled” by an 18-year-old neighbor when she was 7 years old, but “nothing was ever done about it” after she told her mother and stepfather at the time.
She told the unnamed person that “there needs to be a price to pay, they’ve ruined my life.” The person who heard her ultimatum then became a criminal informant for the police.
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According to the complaint, Fuecht first spoke to the informant at her workplace, a mental health facility, about wanting her mother killed the week of Aug. 11. Fuecht asked the informant if he had ever killed anyone before and allegedly told him that she wanted “someone to kill her mom.” She allegedly reiterated her wishes to the informant on Aug. 19, the day after the informant alerted police.
The informant told Fuecht during their Aug. 19 conversation that the grisly task would not happen without a cost. Fuecht allegedly said, “[A]s long as it’s not a million dollars.” When the informant told Fuecht that he “knew a guy,” he told police that her reaction was “her face lighting up like a Christmas tree.”
Police surveillance on Fuecht began, and during a recorded conversation between the informant and suspect, Fuecht explained that in addition to her mother not taking any action regarding the purported molestation, the older woman “may have Alzheimer’s and it was ‘time for her to go.'”
Fuecht and the informant then started discussing payment, including “collateral” or a down payment for the hit job. According to the complaint, Fuecht said that she gets “ten-grand” as a tax refund every year but that would mean the would-be hitman “might have to wait a few months.” Now that Fuecht was allegedly willing to exchange money for murder, a meeting between her and the “hitman” — an undercover officer — could take place.
On Aug. 21, Fuecht, the informant, and the undercover officer met in an unmarked car. Fuecht then allegedly expressed her desire to have her stepfather killed as well, saying she would pay the hitman $10,000 for each target. She told the officer that both her parents were “unhealthy” and “ready to go soon, naturally,” but, she said, “Not at the same time.”
During their conversation, Fuecht and the officer pitched several ideas to make the deaths look “natural.” Fuecht allegedly suggested “oleander flowers and s— I could grow” to poison her stepfather. Fuecht also allegedly said that she might “do the first one,” referring to killing her stepfather herself. She allegedly told the officer, “I was gonna. I don’t know, maybe two.”
Fuecht allegedly emphasized that she wanted both deaths to “look natural,” but that they could not happen at the same time. She allegedly specified that she wanted her stepfather to be killed first. One suggestion she allegedly pitched was “put[ting] something in” his sleep apnea machine, saying, “Oh my God, that’s a really good idea.” Fuecht also allegedly suggested Visine drops in his coffee, in a mug that only he used.
When it came to ways to off her mother, Fuecht allegedly told the officer “she was not into blood,” but that suffocating the older woman “may look fishier.” Fuecht also allegedly suggested “making it look like a fall in the shower.” In the complaint, police said that Fuecht told them that she planned to mend her relationship with her mother ahead of her stepfather’s death “so that it looks better.”
Fuecht allegedly told the officer, “[T]he family will be better without her,” adding, “She’s gotta go, she’s ruining my life.” She also said, “I love her but… she needs to pay for what she f—ing did, b—.”
Up front, Fuecht allegedly offered the undercover officer a Samsung tablet. According to the complaint, Fuecht told the informant and the undercover officer that both her parents were retired and “worth millions,” and she could ultimately provide a $100,000 payment once her inheritance came in. Fuecht said that she was set up to receive “a couple million dollars” in the event of her parents’ deaths. Police stated that Fuecht allegedly committed to giving the hitman “$10,000 up front and $10,000 after.”
Upon their verbal agreement, police arrested Fuecht. She was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide. Bond was set at $100,000 cash.
