Jason, left, and Joseph Hoppa. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN LAKE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Berlin man has been charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill one his children because he was unhappy about how the proceeds of an estate were divided. Another son has also been charged in the plot.
Joseph Hoppa Sr., 62, and Jason Hoppa, 38, made initial appearances Tuesday in Green Lake County court. Separate preliminary hearings are scheduled for next month. Both are being held on $50,000 cash bonds, court records show.
The man who was approached to do the killing reached out to police and told them of the offer.
According to the criminal complaint, Joseph Hoppa Sr. approached a man in March, offering $20,000 upfront and $20,000 afterwards to kill one of his sons. Hoppa Sr. also offered use a weapon for the killing.
Hoppa Sr. told the would-be hitman there is “no love here, I have no love for this kid, I don’t even like claiming him as my son.”
In subsequent conversations, Jason Hoppa reiterated the desire to have his brother killed.
Hoppa Sr. told police his father’s estate was being contested because his son was granted 220 acres of property in Orlando, properties in Redgranite and the remaining money from the estate, instead of being an even split between him and his son.
Hoppa Sr. initially denied any plot to kill his son but later said “he had mentioned something about doing harm to” his son,” the complaint states.
Jason Hoppa denied there was a murder plot.
“Hoppa did state that him and his dad were upset but not trying to get him killed, referring to his brother. I then asked him how the estate worked, and he stated that they were upset as his brother manipulated his grandfather into getting everything from the estate,” the complaint states.
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