A Santa Ana man who looks a bit like the British actor who plays Al Capone on Boardwalk Empire is scheduled to be arraigned the morning of New Year's Eve for soliciting the murder of his ex-wife.
William John Wallace, 33, was arrested Saturday following an undercover Orange County Sheriff's Department sting operation.
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Stephen Graham-lookalike Wallace in August hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on his ex-wife, with whom he is embroiled in a bitter custody and child-support battle involving their 4-year-old daughter.
Things took a turn for the criminal in October, according to prosecutors, who allege Wallace then asked the P.I. if he knew of anyone who could kill the ex-wife and dispose of her body. Instead of providing a name, the investigator contacted law enforcement.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department then set up the sting operation that had Wallace meeting in Santa Ana Saturday morning with an undercover detective who was to be paid $30,000 for bumping off the ex- and making it so her body would not be found, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock, the sheriff's spokesman.
Instead, Wallace was arrested, and he had with him at the time a ticket for a plane departing for England Thursday so he would have an alibi, Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown told City News Service.
Wallace, who was later charged by the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) with premeditated attempted murder and two counts of solicitation to commit murder, is scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Santa Ana. He faces up to 26 years to life in state prison with a conviction, according to the OCDA.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.