Waukesha County alleged murder-for-hire plot; 2 men accused
WAUKESHA, Wis. - Two Waukesha County men are accused in an alleged murder-for-hire plot – a plot the criminal complaint indicates was concocted while the defendants were in jail together.
The accused are 48-year-old Brendt Johannsen of Pewaukee and 28-year-old Nicholas Blandon of Waukesha. The two face the following criminal counts:
- Solicitation of first-degree intentional homicide (Johannsen)
- Conspiracy to commit money laudering (Johannsen and Blandon)
According to the criminal complaint, a Waukesha police detective was assigned on Tuesday, June 25 to an investigation related to defendant Johannsen. The detective was informed an inmate had information regarding a plan by Johannsen to kill his ex-fiancee.
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The complaint says the inmate told authorities he heard a conversation between Johannsen and defendant Blandon. While the inmate could not remember the specifics, he "knew it involved giving information on the location of a female," the complaint says. That same inmate told authorities that he was told by another inmate that around the weekend of June 22-23, "Blandon had been paid or was going to be paid $20,000 by defendant Johannsen to kill victim A," the complaint says.
Detectives interviewed Blandon. In that conversation, Blandon "stated he didn't know anything about defendant Johannsen's plan to kill his ex-fiancee" and that he and Johannsen never talk," the complaint says.
Law enforcement searched Blandon's jail cell and found a piece of paper with "victim A's" name on it. When Blandon was asked about this piece of paper, he "stated he was trying to get some money for his family and claimed that defendant Johannsen only wanted to 'scare her,'" the complaint says. He went on to say "the plan was for defendant Blandon to go into victim A's vehicle and 'do petty (expletive)' like take her purse. Defendant Blandon stated that he wrote down fake things to make it seem like he would go through with the plan," the complaint says. Blandon also claimed Johannsen "never told him that he wanted victim A killed." When asked about the $20,000 check, Blandon told detectives it was picked up by a friend from Chicago and that "all the money was spent," the complaint says.
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The criminal complaint indicates conversations about this plan to kill the ex-fiancee had been going on for about 40 days, another inmate told investigators.
Johannsen made his initial appearance in Waukesha County court on Thursday, June 27. The judge set his cash bond at $2 million.
Blandon also made his initial appearance on Thursday, June 27. Cash bond was set at $100,000.