Former Food Network Star Allegedly Ordered Hit on Infertile Wife

An apostate pastry chef who swore off sweets to become a Food Network diet guru has been charged with attempting to bribe homeless men to murder his wife with a box cutter. Sources close to Juan-Carlos Cruz  and his wife Jennifer Campbell speculate that he was trying to do her a favor. Campbell supposedly wanted to die because she was distraught over her infertility. According to TMZ, “Campbell is a deeply religious, practicing Catholic and the church views suicide as a mortal sin.” Acquaintances describe Cruz as a devout church-goer in his own right. Investigators are looking into the “barren woman” theory. Cruz may have also planned to kill himself, according to some reports.

A defense lawyer who was not involved in the case told ABC News:

“It’s pretty out there, but it’s not a legal defense,” he said, even if Cruz’s wife comes forward to back up that theory.

“It’ll have a factor, but it doesn’t give him a defense. It’s certainly going to mitigate punishment,” he said. “It’s entirely different from killing your wife to collect the life insurance.” [ABC]

Excuse me, but trying to have your wife killed without her permission is not “entirely different” from killing her to collect life insurance money. A woman who thinks her life isn’t worth living because she’s infertile needs mental health care, not a contract killing. 

[Photo credit: flickr user Leo Reynolds, licensed under Creative Commons.]