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Judge Finds Enough Evidence to Try Nebraska Man for Plotting Murder

Robert Honken
Robert Honken
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A judge has decided there is enough evidence to try a 37-year-old Nebraska man on charges that he plotted to hire someone to kill his estranged wife.

Robert Honken has been bound over for trial on two charges of conspiracy to commit murder in Hamilton County.

The man prosecutors say Honken hired to kill his wife, Derrick Shirley of Bradshaw, is scheduled to be in court for a similar hearing on Tuesday.

Nebraska State Patrol Sgt. Ryan Phinney testified last week about the evidence against both men who were arrested last month.

Phinney says Honken tried to hire an undercover officer to kill his wife. And Shirley told investigators that he had been paid earlier this year to kill Honken’s wife but had backed out.

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