83-year-old woman, her son charged in murder-for-hire plot

PLAINFIELD, N.H. – An 83-year-old woman and her 63-year-old son have been charged in a murder-for-hire plot involving his ex-wife, police said Friday.

Pauline Chase and Maurice Temple were arrested Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit murder and attempt to commit murder.

The two Plainfield residents were each held on $1 million bail Friday in Claremont and are not allowed to have contact with each other. They were represented by public defenders.

WMUR-TV reported court paperwork shows Maurice Temple was in an ongoing dispute with his ex-wife over money he owed her because of their divorce. He was arrested and jailed recently for failing to make his court-ordered payments.

Messages were left for Temple, who runs an excavating and snowplow business. A possible phone number for Chase was out of service.

According to the police complaint, both had conversations with another person about causing the death of Temple’s ex-wife and provided about $5,000 as a down payment.

The state police crimes unit, the attorney general’s office’s drug task force and the Sullivan County attorney’s office were involved in the investigation.

Plainfield Police Chief Paul Roberts couldn’t comment when asked if a violent act had occurred, the Valley News reported. Roberts said the case is “still fluid,” and he described the investigation as “active.”