SEATTLE -- A retired 20-year King County Sheriff's deputy is charged with threatening to kill his wife, two children and sister-in-law, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News has learned.

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Alleged Murder Plot Hatched In Jail

"We're all disappointed. Clearly, it's a black eye for all of us," said Sgt. Kevin Fagerstrom, King County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

William Frederick Jensen was in jail on a felony harassment charge when he hatched a murder plot, prosecutors say.

While Jensen was in isolation on the jail's 11th floor, he met with another inmate during short leaves from his cell and agreed to pay the man $150,000 to have his wife, her sister, and his own daughter murdered. His daughter was scheduled to testify against Jensen in his upcoming domestic violence trial.

But unknown to Jensen, the other inmate went to Seattle police, who set up a "sting" operation with a female detective who acted as a go-between.

Police say on July 24, Jensen told the undercover cop that the murder plan was "a go." And that it "has to be done by August 1."

When told, if the murders happened at his home, Jensen's 15-year-old son could also accidentally be harmed, Jensen reportedly replied "Oh, well."

The King County Sheriff's office says it knew nothing of any violence involving Jensen while he was a deputy from 1979 until his retirement in 1999.