WAUKESHA — Two men have been charged in alleged murder-for-hire plot that saw one of them arrange to have $20,000 paid to the other to kill his ex-fiancee, according to a criminal complaint filed against them in Waukesha County Circuit Court on Thursday.
Brendt Johannsen, 48, of the Town of Delafield, was charged with solicitation of first-degree intentional homicide. Both he and Nicholas Blandon, 28, of Waukesha were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering as well.
Johannsen appeared in court Thursday, where he was ordered held on $2 million cash bail, with orders that he possess no dangerous weapons, have no contact with the alleged target or other people in the case, remain at least 5 miles from the alleged target, and have no contact with anyone outside the jail except his attorney while he is in the jail, online court records show. Blandon was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail and is to appear in court today.
Start your holiday with a BANG! We're celebrating the 4th of July with a subscription deal to The Freeman you can't pass up:
Johannsen previously has been charged with stalking and misusing a GPS device and bail jumping and violating a restraining order in two other felony cases involving his former fiancee. Complaints in those cases alleged Johannsen stalked the woman via a GPS device placed on her car after she broke off their engagement, and had repeated contacts with her despite her requests and advice from sheriff‘s deputies to avoid her. In May, the woman sought and received an injunction ordering Johannsen to avoid her for 10 years, court records show.
On Tuesday, Johannsen posted $50,000 cash bail in the both of the earlier cases. But defense attorney Paul Bucher said Johannsen was arrested by a tactical team in New Berlin at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday after the Sheriff’s Department developed what it believed to be probable cause to apprehend Johannsen on the solicitation charge.
The complaint in the latest case indicated a detective was assigned Tuesday to investigate after an inmate at the county jail reportedly had information regarding a plan by Johannsen to kill his ex-fiancee. The inmate stated he overheard conversation between Johannsen and Blandon last week discussing the woman’s residence, the complaint said. The inmate reported another inmate told him Blandon had been paid or was to be paid $20,000 by Johannsen to kill the woman, it added.
Blandon at first denied knowledge of the plot, but when the woman’s name was found on a paper in his cell, Blandon said, "I was gonna finesse him and go on with my life," the complaint said. Blandon claimed Johannsen only wanted to "scare her" and he was being asked to go into her car and do "petty" things like take her purse.
Blandon claimed Johannsen never told him he wanted the woman dead, the complaint said. He said a female friend of his from Chicago went to the jail to pick up a $20,000 check, which he said he spent on his family.
Another inmate reported he heard Johannsen say something about wanting his ex-fiancee killed, the complaint said. He reported Johannsen said "he would pay whoever was released from jail first to kill his ex-fiancee." But, the inmate said, Johannsen was not aware Blandon was not going to follow through on the plans and just wanted the money, the complaint said.
That inmate reported Johannsen said he went to the woman’s home, went into a safe, got money and a gun, and stood outside the bathroom as she showered with a gun behind his back for a few minutes and he wanted to kill her, but ultimately did not take that action "because he thought it would be obvious he committed the crime," the complaint said.
Bucher said he has not yet met with Johannsen, the owner of several Bright Faith Senior Living residences around the metro area, about the latest allegations but hoped to do so today.
"I’ve not spoken with him. Obviously these are pretty serious allegations. He is presumed innocent. I need to discuss all this with him," Bucher said. "There are inmates giving information to the government so credibility will be an issue. ... I am just glad nobody was injured and it was a peaceful resolution to a pretty serious matter."
