Murder-For-Hire Plot Lands Charges For Delco Woman: Authorities

CHADDS FORD, PA — A Delaware County woman is being charged in New Jersey after authorities said she tried to have her ex-husband's wife killed.

Marilyn Zhou, 56, of Chadds Ford, is charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder and one count of third-degree money laundering, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said.

Earlier this month, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Special Investigations Unit received information that Zhou was looking for assistance with a murder for hire, authorities said.

On Sunday morning, Dec. 18, Zhou met with an undercover officer in Trenton, New Jersey, where she advised the officer she wanted them to murder her ex-husband’s new wife, according to authorities.

Zhou provided the officer with two color photographs of the victim, $21,000 in cash, rubber nitrile gloves and a towel to carry out the murder, authorities said.

She also told the undercover officer that if the victim’s 13-year-old daughter was present at the time of the murder, she should also be murdered, according to authorities.

Zhou stated she would pay the undercover officer an additional $20,000 once the murder was complete, authorities said.

Moments after the meeting, Zhou was taken into custody by the Special Investigations Unit.

Later that evening, members of the Special Investigations Unit assisted the Pennsylvania State Police in executing a search warrant at Zhou’s Chadds Ford home, according to authorities.

There, detectives seized $18,000 and also located items she advised the undercover officer to use during the murder, authorities said.

The prosecutor’s office has filed a motion to detain her pending trial.