A Vancouver man is accused of soliciting two men to beat up his estranged wife after she served him with a no-contact order the week before. The plan was thwarted, however, when the men he allegedly tried to hire tipped her off.
Edgar Gonzalez-Gomez, 27, appeared Friday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of criminal solicitation. Court records show that Judge Daniel Stahnke set his bail at $500,000. He will be arraigned May 13.
Gonzalez-Gomez’s estranged wife served him with a no-contact order April 7. Exactly one week later, she was sitting in her car in front of her residence when she saw an unknown man walk by several times. She stayed inside the car on the phone with a friend, because she thought it was odd, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The man then knocked on her car window and motioned for her to roll it down. She complied, and the man asked her to confirm her name, which she did, the affidavit says.
He then said Gonzalez-Gomez had offered to pay him and another man $5,000 to assault her. He told her that Gonzalez-Gomez had described what kind of car she drives and what she looks like, court documents state.
The man told her he wasn’t going to hurt her because he has a sister who was in a similar domestic violence situation. He then let her hear a recording of Gonzalez-Gomez describing in Spanish what he wanted done to her, according to court records.
The victim said she could hear voices saying to break her ribs. The man also told her that Gonzalez-Gomez asked to be notified when the beating was done so he could arrive to help her. The men then left, and Gonzalez-Gomez arrived in the parking lot, the affidavit says.
She called 911 and reported what had happened.
A translator later listened to the recording and confirmed that a male voice said he would “do the face and just below the ribs.” The translator was unable to give a full translation because of poor audio quality, court records state.
A danger assessment placed the victim at severe risk of being killed by Gonzalez-Gomez, the affidavit says.
Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said Monday that the domestic violence unit is continuing to investigate.
