By Karen Zautyk
Observer Correspondent
LYNDHURST –
She had already bought the dress. A classic black number perfect for a funeral.
When she walked past the casket–and spit on it– consider the photo op.
Such behavior might, of course, beg the question as to whether suspicions would be raised, but that’s all moot now anyway.
The fashion-conscious “mourner” is going to have to make do with orange jumpsuits for the next decade.
Last week, 44-year-old Lyndhurst resident Nicole Faccenda was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to hire a hit man to murder her ex-lover’s new girlfriend.
A bullet in the head would do it, she had told the hired assassin. As for the former boyfriend, a shot to the foot would be acceptable. She wanted him to be “miserable.”
According to authorities, Faccenda did not want the girlfriend’s children killed, “but if something happens to one of them, ‘Oh, well, I’m sorry’.”
The price for the murder was $10,000 — $5,000 up front and the rest when the deed was done. But it didn’t get done. The “hit man” was actually an undercover agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Authorities said the sorry saga started after Faccenda’s longterm boyfriend, the father of her child, jilted her in favor of the new paramour, with whom he had also fathered a child.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, on Oct. 19, 2011, the woman scorned contacted an individual in Florida for advice on finding someone to kill her rival.
The man Faccenda called played along and contacted her the next day to say he had found a gunman. That conversation, however, was being recorded, because her Florida acquaintance had already notified law enforcement of Faccenda’s request.
Faccenda, who reportedly lived on Olive St. in Lyndhurst, met with the reputed “hit man” – the undercover ATF agent — at a supermarket parking lot in Mahwah to discuss the price.
A number of subsequent conversations were recorded, and on Oct. 24, 2011, Faccenda met with her Florida friend at a Secaucus gas station. She also provided the name, a photo, work schedule and license plate number of the intended victim.
Two days later, on Oct. 26, the friend called and told her the woman had been shot in the head and the crime had been made to look like it occurred during a robbery. All of which was fabrication.
Faccenda was arrested by ATF agents a short time later.
Faccenda pleaded guilty on Aug. 8, 2012.
She was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Faith Hochberg in Newark Federal Court.
In addition to the 10-year prison term, Hochberg added a three-year term of supervised release and ordered her to pay restitution of $19,292.
According to published reports, Faccenda wept throughout the sentencing proceedings.
