Man Indicted In Murder-For-Hire

A grand jury on Wednesday indicted a 49-year-old Philadelphia man who is accused of trying to coax three young women into murdering his estranged wife.

John A. Sannuti Jr. is charged with attempted murder and also faces several other charges stemming from an alleged murder-for-hire attempt, said Bill Shralow, a spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's office.

Sannuti was arrested last September after the women -- ages 17, 18 and 20 -- called police shortly after he drove them home from his wife's home in Voorhees.

Sannuti allegedly offered an undisclosed amount of money to the women in exchange for killing his wife. Authorities said he tried to give the women a knife and plastic gloves and when they refused to comply, Sannuti allegedly threatened to kill them.

He later dropped them off back in Philadelphia, authorities said.

"What was unusual about it was that he allegedly brought them over to New Jersey and according to the investigation to date, they didn't know what he was planning to do until they arrived in Voorhees, at which point he allegedly told them where they were and that he wanted them to take out his wife," Shralow said.

The prosecutor's office did not release the name of Sannuti's wife, but Shralow said the couple had been married for some time and had more than one adult child together.

Sannuti was arrested on Sept. 11, 2003, and posted $100,000 bail in November. No further court dates have been scheduled at this time and he remains free on bail.

The public defender representing him did not immediately return a telephone call left after hours seeking comment on the case.

Sannuti also faces three counts of terroristic threats and criminal coercion -- one count for each of the women he allegedly brought to New Jersey -- along with single counts of two different weapon possession charges.

If convicted of attempted murder, Sannuti could face up to 20 years in prison. The maximum sentences for the other charges range from 18 months to five years.

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Author: NBC10/AP