Woman Accused Of Plotting Ex-Boyfriends' Murders Ready For Release After Plea Deal
RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — A 23-year-old Riverside woman accused of plotting to kill former boyfriends is heading home after striking a plea deal with prosecutors.
Barbara Wu was sentenced Monday to three years, four months in state prison after pleading guilty Jan. 15 to one count each of stalking and witness intimidation, as well as two counts of solicitation to commit a criminal act.
Wu, then a philosophy student at UC Riverside, was arrested in May 2013 after a UCR police investigation that uncovered instances in which she had sought to have two men killed for breaking up with her.
Wu's attorney, attorney Rajan Maline, says she's now ready to end her jail-time after pleading guilty to the lesser solicitation charge rather than murder in a deal with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.
"She never had the intent to have anybody killed. She was adamant about that from day one," Maline said.
While he acknowledges his client was hurt the men broke up with her, he insists she never wanted them killed.
"When you're hurt like that you're going to say things, especially if you're young," Maline said. "You're going to say things that you don't want to say or necessarily mean because you're hurt and that's essentially what happened in this case."
Wu is scheduled for release Tuesday morning, with credit for time served.
As part of her plea deal, she is ordered to not to have contact with her former boyfriends for at least 10 years.
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