BY TARA PETERSEN
Staff Writer
Diane Oakley An Upper Freehold woman was arrested last week for allegedly attempting to have her ex-husband killed.
State police arrested Diane Oakley, 47, Nov. 16 at around 8 a.m. as she was leaving her home on Route 539, following a two-week-long undercover investigation, officials said.
According to John Hagerty, spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General State of New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, state police began investigating Oakley after receiving information that she was seeking someone to kill her ex-husband, John Oakley.
Police heard of the plan during an unrelated investigation, and involved the use of an undercover officer posing as a “hit man.”
Hagerty said that Oakley hired the “hit man” and gave him a $1,000 down payment, as well as a photograph of John Oakley, who now lives in the Bronx, N.Y.
Police said Diane Oakley met with the undercover officer on more than one occasion before the exchange of money took place.
She promised to pay another $24,000 after she collected $100,000 from her ex-husband’s life insurance policy, for which she was listed as a beneficiary, Hagerty said.
“The total price of the murder would be $25,000…,” Hagerty said.
Police said Oakley did not discuss the time, place or method for the murder with the “hit man.”
She was charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder and was lodged in the Monmouth County Jail, with bail set at $100,000.
Diane Oakley has been employed by the New Jersey State Judiciary Department since 1993, according to Winnie Comfort, the department’s director of communications.
Oakley works as a telecommunications coordinator at an annual salary of $85,572; however, she was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
She has been employed with the state for 29 years, officials said.
Oakley appeared before Superior Court Judge Paul F. Chaiet Nov. 17, where she claimed she could not afford to hire an attorney. Chaiet told her to apply for a public defender, according to Hagerty.
Chaiet also raised the bail to $200,000 after Hagerty’s office expressed concerns that Oakley has the means to flee.
“She has a $85,000 job and had taken out some loans,” Hagerty said. “We argued she was a flight risk based on her ability to obtain dollars, and the judge agreed.”
One of the Oakleys’ neighbors, Gay Eckley, said she was “shocked” to hear of Oakley’s arrest.
“She’s a great person, a good mother, kept her house nice,” Eckley said.
Eckley said Diane Oakley had always been very helpful to her. She had met Diane’s older son, whom she called “very nice,” and Oakley’s mother, whom she also liked very much.
Eckley said Oakley used to ask her for advice about her problems with her husband.
“I feel bad [for her]. I feel bad for the little girl,” said Eckley.
The Oakleys have an 8-year-old daughter together.
Eckley said she did not have a great impression of John, saying that in the four years she knew him, he never held a job for more than few months.
“John was shiftless,” said Eckley. “He would be here two weeks, gone a week, and she wouldn’t know where he was. He couldn’t hold a job. She set him up in a landscaping business — that didn’t work out.”
Hagerty said his office has no information on the nature of the Oakleys’ marriage, or on their relationship since. They believe Diane Oakley wanted to have her ex-husband killed so she could collect money from the insurance policy.
“We are looking at a purely financial motive at this time,” Hagerty said.
Hagerty added that the next step is the presentation of the case to a state grand jury for indictment.
“We anticipate the indictment to take place within the next 30 days,” he said.
At press time, Hagerty said Oakley has not posted bail and remains incarcerated.