TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington nurse accused of trying to hire an undercover detective to kill her estranged husband has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The News Tribune reports (http://is.gd/yuSV1k ) that 47-year-old Karen Lofgren of Gig Harbor entered her plea Friday afternoon. She entered the same plea to a charge of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
Her lawyer Wayne Fricke says his client has a “pristine past” and it appears to him the idea was “planted.”
Bail was set at $1 million.
Lofgren is a registered nurse at a children’s hospital. A hospital spokeswoman says Lofgren is on leave while the charges are resolved.