March 8, 2019- Commonwealth v. James B. Macaulay:  On Friday, March 8, 2019, James Macaulay was arrested and charged with solicitation to commit murder.  On March 5, 2019, Macaulay asked an acquaintance if they could help him find a contract killer.  The acquaintance provided a phone number to Macaulay in response to his request.  Over the next few days, Macaulay communicated with the purported killer both by phone and in person.  Macaulay provided a photo of the target, a white female, to the killer.  He also provided details about where she would be at different times of the day.  Police were able to identify the woman in the photo as Macaulay’s wife.  Macaulay agreed to a price of $5,000 to complete the crime.

Macaulay is currently being held on $2,000,000 bail.  His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 21, 2019.  This case was investigated by members of the Dauphin County Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Mike Sprow.

This is the second time in the same week that Dauphin County detectives arrested someone for soliciting another to commit murder.  On March 7, 2019, detectives arrested Leroy Vencak when he attempted to hire someone to kill his wife. 

NOTE: The charges are merely allegations at this time and James Macaulay is presumed innocent until proven guilty.