Ruth Ann Aron

Ruthann Aron was an overachiever. The wife of a respected urologist in the upscale D.C. suburb of Potomac, Maryland, Ruthann was a successful real estate developer and aspiring politician. In 1994, she made a run to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, but lost, partly due to a local attorney who dogged the campaign with allegations of shady business deals. Ruthann, however, was undeterred. In 1997, she was gearing up to run for a Montgomery County commission seat. But her political ambitions were thwarted yet again when a local landfill operator went to the police claiming she'd approached him about finding a hit man. After an elaborate sting operation, Ruthann was arrested for soliciting the murders of, not just her old political nemesis, but her husband as well. At trial, prosecutors claimed Ruthann feared her marriage was heading for a divorce, which might hurt her political career. In addition to the testimony of the landfill operator and the undercover cops, the prosecution had Ruthann's own voice on surveillance tapes literally spelling out the names of her intended victims. Faced with overwhelming evidence, Ruthann's attorneys argued that Ruthann was mentally ill. The trial resulted in a hung jury. Ruthann then pled no contest and served three years in the county jail.