Man jailed in Centre County accused of seeking 2nd hit man to kill police informant
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- Man jailed in Centre County charged with soliciting a second hit man to kill informant
- Authorities say Hackett offered $10,000 and recruited an inmate to administer fentanyl
- Preliminary hearing set for Oct. 22; original drug and murder charges remain pending
A man who is incarcerated at Centre County’s jail as he awaits trial on felony drugs charges was accused Tuesday of seeking out a second hit man to kill a confidential police informant.
Mark C. Hackett, 64, was charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder after a Clearfield County Jail inmate told investigators Hackett offered him $10,000 to kill the informant with fentanyl.
Hackett and his girlfriend Amanda L. Zortman, 46, were also charged with the same crime in March after state police at Rockview said their first attempt failed. Hackett’s defense lawyer Ronald S. McGlaughlin declined comment Wednesday.
After the initial charges were filed, a trooper said he reviewed jailhouse calls in which the inmate and Zortman discussed the plan to hire the second hit man. The inmate later told police Hackett wanted the informant to “go away” so there was no case against him, police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Once the inmate was released from jail, the plan was for him to befriend the informant and then kill him with fentanyl, police wrote. The opioid painkiller is many times more powerful than heroin and is typically prescribed to treat severe pain.
Hackett’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22. The original charges against he and Zortman, both of Clearfield County, are pending.