Northeast Ohio woman sentenced to 10 years in prison for hiring hit man to kill ex-husband

PAINESVILLE, Ohio - Christine Metter, the Northeast Ohio woman found guilty of trying to hire a hit man to kill her ex-husband for $50,000, received the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison Thursday in Lake County Common Pleas Court.

At the hearing Thursday morning, the defense tried to characterize the situation as Metter’s father, Al Zombory, manipulating her. The judge, however, called Metter’s crime the worst type a person can do.

Zombory was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the conspiracy Wednesday.

Metter's ex-husband gave a teary-eyed statement during the hearing, saying Metter's actions negatively affected their children.

"I reluctantly ask this, but I hope she serves the time that she deserves to serve," he said.

[ WEB EXTRA: Watch the ex-husband's' 4:55 statement by clicking on video player above ]

Metter’s sister spoke on her behalf at Thursday’s hearing.

Metter will appeal the sentence. She was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder in January and arrested on the charge June 3, 2011.

Eastlake police said she was chatting over the Internet with a friend from high school and brought up that she was upset about issues with her ex and said in jest that “a hit man should be hired to take care of the problem.”

A short time later, Metter asked for this friend to call her and then set up a dinner meeting with him, including her father, Al Zombory, according to police.

When they met in person, police said Zombory told the friend he wanted his son-in-law to be killed. During this meeting, a price of $50,000 was allegedly agreed upon for the deed, and the friend later notified Zombory a man was contracted to make the kill.

It turns out, Metter’s high school friend was a confidential informant for the police and let the department know about the situation on Friday, May 27. The person contracted to kill Metter’s ex was an undercover police officer from the Eastlake Police Department.

In an exclusive interview with NewsChannel5, the confidential informant said he had to contact police immediately "or they would hire someone else to kill Metter's ex-husband and he could never live with that."

As a precaution, police in Eastlake notified the target’s local police department in Georgia to ensure his safety.

The undercover officer and informant met with Zombory to go over all of the arrangements, putting the contract into motion, police said.

“A number of times Mr. Zombory was asked if he wanted to go through with this and he responded yes each time,” the news release said.

On the day of their arrest, police said Zombory and Metter met with the undercover officer, who showed them a photo of the ex, which was doctored to make it appear that he was dead. The undercover officer was then given the final payment as agreed.