LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tatyana Remley, a California equestrian, allegedly hired a friend to kill her estranged husband, Mark, in a $2M murder-for-hire plot after a court ordered her to reduce her expenditure from $50,000 a month to $12,000.
Remley, 42, was arrested by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department during a sting operation at a Starbucks in Solana Beach on August 2.
Remley was taken into custody nearly a month after Mark contacted police to report that she was offering a mutual friend $2M to kill him. The same friend reportedly informed Mark of his estranged wife’s plan.
After the arrest, Mark also told officials that Remley burned his $5M home on Rancho Reposo just days before trying to arrange the hit, per the Coast News.
Local reports further indicated that the former couple, who were the driving force behind the disastrous acrobatic horse show ‘Valitar’, had a turbulent past filled with unsettled divorce proceedings.
As per the San Diego Union-Tribune, Mark married Remley in March 2011, just two years after he divorced his first wife.
The outlet also reported that the ex-couple allegedly spent millions to produce the doomed show that closed after just four performances due to slow ticket sales.
At that time, Mark reportedly had a portfolio of stocks and bonds estimated to be worth $8.6M and a bank account with about $377,000.
He also owned six homes — one in Rancho Santa Fe, where the couple lives; one in Coronado, one in Del Mar, one in Wyoming and two in Alexandria, Va.
What are the charges against Tatyana Remley?
Remley, who has Mark's name tattooed on her stomach, is currently facing a charge of solicitation of murder.
She also faces two weapon charges: carrying and concealing firearms not registered in her name in a vehicle and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place not registered in her name.
If found guilty of the solicitation charge, she could face up to nine years in prison. The equestrian pleaded not guilty to all charges on August 4. Her bail was denied by a judge.
Remley's arrest comes just a few days after her attorney told the court that she had been struggling financially after she was ordered to bring down her spending as part of their divorce settlement
In July, her attorney, Tiffany Brown, outlined her client's struggles in a divorce filing.
"Wife is experiencing extreme financial strain. She is unable to maintain her realistic monthly expenses of just $12,000, much less [than] what she was accustomed to at $50,000," the filing stated.
It added, "She has no income and does not have the same access to funds and assets that Respondent does."
Brown argued that she could not cope with her new, more frugal lifestyle as the couple would regularly spend $30,000 a night.
What allegations did Tatyana Remley make against Mark Remley?
In her filings, Remley allegedly noted alarming claims of abuse, including one story about being held at gunpoint and another of being chased around their home with a knife.
She claimed that Mark was present in the room when she was assaulted at gunpoint by one of his friends. In another document, she stated she was present at the time the fire broke out but that she did not know how the blaze began.
However, Mark strongly refuted her claims, stating that the stories in her petition were completely false.
