Pediatrician pleads guilty to hiring hitman to kill ex-husband [Video]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE/Gray News) – A former pediatrician in Kentucky charged with trying to kill her ex-husband in a murder-for-hire plot has pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Dr. Stephanie Russell entered a guilty plea before her trial began Monday, according to the case manager for Judge David Hale.

Russell pleaded guilty to two counts of a federal indictment charging her with using a facility in interstate commerce, or causing another person to travel in interstate commerce, in the attempted murder-for-hire of her ex-husband, as well as aiding and abetting interstate stalking of her ex-husband.

During custody litigation between Dec. 1, 2018, and Aug. 9, 2019, a news release says Russell, aided by a person, “J.S.,” who traveled to Louisville from Michigan, “engaged in conduct that caused and attempted to cause her former husband substantial emotional distress, and Russell did so with the intent to harass and intimidate him.”

The release said Russell …