A 39-year-old Vancouver woman was arraigned Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of plotting the murder of her lover’s wife.
Lori Lyn Goulet pleaded not guilty to solicitation to commit murder. She’s accused of sending an anonymous letter Oct. 29 to her estranged brother, Kevin Newsom, asking him to kill Carmady Perez, 26, of Vancouver. She was arrested Nov. 27.
Goulet’s trial is scheduled for Feb. 4. She remains in the Clark County Jail on $500,000 bail.
She has hired defense attorney Steven Jay Rucker to represent her. Her household income and assets made her ineligible for a court-appointed attorney.
One of Newsom’s family members discovered the letter and reported it to Vancouver police, who launched an investigation that included an undercover officer who corresponded with Goulet via email.
In a subsequent email, Goulet allegedly offered $800 for the murder. She also supplied the address where Perez lived, the time of day the murder should be committed, a description of vehicles parked at the residence and instructions on how to handle the family’s dogs, according to police. The email gave specific instructions not to hurt Perez’s husband or the three Perez children.
Carmady Perez was not harmed as a result of the plot, police said.
During the investigation, detectives learned that Goulet works with Perez’s husband, Edward Perez, at ABM Janitorial Services.
When detectives interviewed her, she denied conspiring to kill Carmady Perez but admitted to an affair with the woman’s husband, police said. Edward Perez also admitted to the affair and said it began about nine months ago, police said. He denied any involvement in the conspiracy to murder his wife and has not been charged. Police have indicated there is no information that implicates him.
Goulet is also married and lives with her husband and three children in a home in the Sifton neighborhood.
Paris Achen: 360-735-4551; http://twitter.com/Col_Courts; http://facebook.com/ColTrends; paris.achen@columbian.com.
