Police: Two Soldiers Plotted Murder of Another Soldier on Snapchat

Police in Michigan say that two Georgia-based soldiers spent months planning the murder of the husband of one of the soldiers and specifically used Snapchat as a way of attempting to keep the plot secret.

In a story highlighted by Military Times, the Kalamazoo Gazette reports that while both Spc. Kemia Hassel, 22, and her co-defendant, Spc. Jeremey Cuellar, 24, have pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, police say that Hassel admitted to them that she planned the New Year’s Eve murder of her husband, U.S. Army Sgt. Tyrone Hassel III, 23 — and says she and Cuellar used Snapchat in an attempt to conceal their plot.

“The wife of an Army sergeant killed in December admitted that she planned his killing together with another man, communicating on Snapchat in an attempt to hide their communications, according to statements she made to police,” the Gazette reports.

Snapchat’s key distinguishing feature is that it deletes video and image messages sent between users as a way of keeping interaction flow more “natural” and to avoid the “permanent” and public nature of other social media platforms.

St. Joseph Township Police Officer Mike Lanier told the court Wednesday during a preliminary examination that Hassel had plotted with Cueller for months about killing her husband so they could be together and she could collect his life insurance money. (Read more from “Police: Two Soldiers Plotted Murder of Another Soldier on Snapchat” HERE)

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