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Pretrial motions to begin Wednesday in alleged murder-for-hire case

Trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday for a woman and her gun instructor accused of carrying out a plan to shoot her estranged husband on a dark dirt road in Carlsbad last year.
Pretrial motions to begin Wednesday in alleged murder-for-hire case

VISTA (CNS) - A judge will hear pretrial motions on Wednesday in the case against a woman and her gun instructor, who are accused of carrying out a plan to shoot her estranged husband on a dark dirt road in Carlsbad last year.

Diana Lovejoy, 44, and Weldon McDavid Jr., 50, are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder in the Sept. 1, 2016, attack on 45-year-old Greg Mulvihill, who was wounded in the 11 p.m. shooting.

RELATED: Woman accused of hiring man to shoot her husband

Police allege Lovejoy and McDavid planned the crime and that the latter - - who worked at a gun range where Lovejoy was taking marksmanship lessons -- called the victim, arranged to meet him in the alley and opened fire on him with a rifle while hiding in a patch of bushes.

Court records indicated Lovejoy and Mulvihill were in the midst of a contentious divorce, and that she had obtained a restraining order against him on accusations of emotional and sexual abuse.

McDavid faces 50 years to life behind bars if convicted, and Lovejoy could be sentenced to 25 years to life if she's found guilty. Jury selection is expected to begin Monday at the Vista Courthouse.

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