Father, Son Charged For Plotting Murder Of Heir To Family Estate: Police

A father and a son have been charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot against the heir to their Wisconsin family estate.

Joseph Anthony Hoppa, 62, and Jason P. Hoppa, 38 allegedly met the intended hitman and offered him "$20,000 now and $20,000 when he took [the targeted victim] out," according to a criminal complaint accessed by NBC15.

While Joseph is the father of the targeted victim, Jason is the brother. Both Hoppa men were charged each with a count of Solicitation of First Degree Intentional Homicide. The two made initial appearances in Green Lake County court Tuesday.

The criminal complaint also revealed the intended target was the primary beneficiary of a family estate. Joseph told police his father gave 220 acres of property in Orlando, a number of properties in Redgranite, and the remaining money from the estate to his, instead evenly splitting it.

The intended hitman reached out to the police in November and shared the details of the conversation that took place between him and Joseph in March. The hitman told the police that he came forward because he couldn't live with the information any longer.

Joseph plotted the killing because he was allegedly unhappy about the division of the proceeds of an estate. He told the intended hitman there was "no love here, I have no love for this kid, I don't even like claiming him as my son," Fox11 reported Tuesday.

The intended hitman also revealed the details of his conversation with Joseph's other son Jason Hoppa, who allegedly told him that he "wanted him to kill his brother."

The intended hitman had a second meeting with Jason at a bar in Berlin where the latter offered the former a gun, according to the complaint.

Detectives executed a search warrant at Joseph Hoppa's home on Nov. 30 and took him into custody.

After his arrest, Joseph informed officers his father died in January and left everything to his son, the targeted victim. While Joseph admitted to having conversations with the intended hitman, he denied wanting to hurt his son. Joseph further claimed it was the intended hitman who talked about harming his son.

"We then asked him what his response was when somebody that he barely knows offered to kill his son, JOSEPH ANTHONY HOPPA stated that he didn't need this type of attention and he didn't want to call the cops or anything to draw attention to himself," the complaint read.

At the same time, Jason Hoppa also denied planning a murder plot for his brother's killing.

"Hoppa did state that he and his dad were upset but not trying to get him killed, referring to his brother. I then asked him how the estate worked, and he stated that they were upset as his brother manipulated his grandfather into getting everything from the estate," the complaint stated.