NORFOLK, Va. – A Navy Sailor was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Norfolk Federal Court Monday morning for hiring a hitman to kill his estranged wife.
According to court records, 38-year-old Chadwick Ghesquiere hired an undercover federal agent to murder his estranged wife, Kathryn Ghesquiere (34, Chesapeake).
According to court documents, he told the source that he and his wife were having marital issues. He wanted to kill her, so “he didn’t have to deal with her or pay child support,” court documents say.
Court records say Ghesquiere was worried about the safety of his young son, after his wife allegedly got back with her ex-husband while he was deployed in Bahrain.
“Mr. Ghesquiere recalls how his son would tell him that he was hungry because his mother was too drunk to cook him dinner…Another time, Mr. Ghesquiere noticed a burn on his son’s leg, which he found out occurred while his son was at K M-G’s house and her older son, from a previous relationship, burned a cigarette into his leg," the court documents state.
Mrs. Ghesquiere denied those statements in federal court on Monday when she took the stand to offer a victim witness impact statement.
"I don't know how to explain to a seven-year-old why daddy tried to kill mommy," Mrs. Ghesquiere told the courtroom. "Please give my son justice."
Mrs. Ghesquiere asked the judge to give her husband the maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
"It strikes me as odd that a defendant can claim to serve proudly, and then turn around and hire someone to murder his wife," the prosecutor told the judge.
Ghesquiere's defense attorney argued that his client "lost his moral compass" and asked the judge to sentence Ghesquiere between eight and ten years in prison.
According to court documents, Ghesquiere gave the undercover agent $1,000 in cash, 80 Adderall pills and a gun to commit the murder. Ghesquiere also promised to pay the undercover agent $50,000 from life insurance policy.
Ghesquiere admitted that he used a pre-paid burner phone to meet with the undercover agent. He also admitted to giving one of his neighbors Adderall pills he received from the military.
“Violence is never the answer to ending a relationship,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in a statement released Monday afternoon. “Despite Ghesquiere’s best attempts to distance himself, law enforcement agents were able to uncover his murder-for-hire plot and potentially prevent a tragic loss of life. I want to thank our investigative partners at the ATF and NCIS for their terrific work on this case.”
Upon his release, the judge sentenced Ghesquiere to three years of supervised probation. His defense counsel asked for Ghesquiere to be incarcerated in the state of Ohio where his parents live. The judge said he would make that recommendation, but could not order a corrections department to do so.
