Story Archive

What a Shayme

“Hey Shayne hows it going,” Jeff Lytle of Monroe, Wash., wrote in a mobile phone text. “You remember you said that you would help me kill my wife. I’m going to take you up on that offer.” For a bonus, he added, Shayne should kill his 4-year-old daughter, too; they’d split the life insurance on his wife ($1 million) and daughter ($500,000) when the job was done. Other messages included his and his wife’s schedules, and suggested he make it look like a robbery. The texts went to his former boss, who apparently isn’t named Shayne; he called the police. Lytle, 42, says he wrote the messages “months ago” to “vent” and didn’t send them to anyone, but left them as drafts on his phone. He claims he doesn’t know anyone named Shayne, and maybe his daughter sent them. Lytle is being held on $1 million bail, charged with two counts of criminal solicitation for murder. (RC/KIRO Seattle, Seattle Times) ...So, is he an obliviot for putting a murder solicitation into writing, or is he an obliviot for “venting” in writing?