A man in Houston has been charged with attempting to hire a hitman to kill his ex-girlfriend, her current boyfriend and her parents.
Rajesh Bakshi, 54, is facing four counts of solicitation of capital murder.
Bakshi, who now lives in the city of Pearland in Texas, is understood to have tried to hire a contract killer to shoot the victims.
However, the man he was actually in negotiations with was an undercover Houston police officer.
Harris County prosecutors say the Indian national was willing to pay $15,000 (£10,700) for the killings.
He is alleged to have made a $1,500 (£1,070) down payment and provided photos of the intended victims, along with schedules of their usual daily routines.
The accused also said he wanted cocaine left near the victims' bodies at the crime scene, according to court records.
The documents also say he had been harassing his girlfriend for months and was alleged to have had a history of violence towards his girlfriend.
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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told Fox News: "This operation saved lives in a very sensitive situation. Imagine how bad this could have been had it not been uncovered before it got to a real hitman."
Bakshi is now being held on a $600,000 (£428,000) bond, and if convicted he could face life in prison.
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