DOVER — Dianna Saunders wanted her boyfriend David King dead and allegedly paid $8,000 to make it happen.
Despite this allegation, Saunders is not facing a capital murder charge.
According to state law, the capital murder charge can be applied to anyone who conspires with another to commit a contract killing.
Saunders, 42, was indicted Tuesday on felony charges of conspiracy to commit murder and accomplice to first-degree murder for allegedly organizing the August 2008 killing of King, her longtime boyfriend, at the 81 Old Dover Point Road home the two shared.
Saunders' conspiracy to commit murder indictment outlines some of the alleged murder plot, which includes Saunders reportedly paying her ex-husband to get the wheels in motion for the killing.
Associate Attorney General Ann Rice wouldn't comment Tuesday on whether prosecutors ever considered a capital murder charge in the case.
According to the conspiracy indictment, Saunders first approached her ex-husband, Roy Saunders, and gave him $8,000 to pay someone to kill King because she wanted him "gone."
She also is alleged to have spoken with her stepson, Derek Saunders, about the plot.
Authorities say Derek Saunders then got his roommate, Scott Mazzone, in on the plot and the two discussed shooting King at his home. Derek Saunders later took $500 from his father to purchase a gun, according to the indictment.
The indictment states that Dianna Saunders called Derek Saunders the day before the killing to confirm it and on Aug. 28, 2008, the day of the murder, she left the couple's home at 5 p.m. and "stayed away from her house for a sufficient length of time to allow Derek Saunders and Scott Mazzone to kill David King," according to the indictments.
The pair entered King's basement at 6:30 p.m. and Mazzone killed him by shooting him with a rifle and then cut his throat. Prosecutors have said that Derek Saunders and Mazzone lived in King's basement at some point in the past.
Following the killing, Roy Saunders gave Derek Saunders $6,000 in cash and Derek Saunders then paid Scott Mazzone $4,000, according to the indictment.
The dates August 2006 through King's Aug. 29, 2008, murder are listed on the conspiracy indictment. Rice said this doesn't necessarily indicate the plot started in 2006.
"When we talk about conspiracy we look at a broad range of dates where we think evidence of a conspiracy may be available," she said.
The accomplice to first-degree murder indictment is specific to Aug. 28-29, 2008, and alleges Dianna Saunders solicited others to commit the murder, planned it and helped to facilitate it by staying away from the residence at a prearranged time so Mazzone and Derek Saunders could kill King.
Authorities remain tight-lipped about why Dianna Saunders wanted King dead and Rice declined to shed any light on the reason when asked on Tuesday.
"I can't talk about the evidence," she said.
All documents in Dianna Saunders' case, other than a single arrest complaint and the indictments, are sealed and will likely remain sealed for a little while longer. Rice said the state Attorney General's Office will be filing a motion to unseal those documents but didn't give a specific timeline for that action.
Dianna Saunders' attorney, Jeff Karp of Boston, said he's happy the case is moving forward because the state will now have to provide him with proof linking her to the killing. He has adamantly denied her involvement in the killing.
"We're looking forward to having our day in court and vigorously defending Ms. Saunders," he said.
Dianna Saunders has been in police custody since July when Dover police flew down to where she was living in Texas and arrested her. She moved to Texas with her two daughters shortly after King's killing.
Her two daughters, ages 9 and 13, remain in Texas under the custody of Nelson Dusenbery, a man Saunders was living with in Texas, according to court documents.
Dianna Saunders is also the subject of a civil suit filed by William Meredith of Cape Neddick, Maine. Meredith was involved in multiple real estate transactions with Dianna Saunders and claimed she embezzled money from him to fund her move to Texas.
When she failed to show up for a court hearing in July, a judge issued a default judgment against her in the amount of $380,000.
Mazzone and Derek Saunders have already pleaded guilty for their roles in King's killing.
In May, Mazzone, 41, negotiated a deal with the state Attorney General's office and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shooting King in the head. The plea included a sentence of 33 years to life in prison, which would be imposed if Mazzone cooperated with the investigation.
Derek Saunders, 27, also struck a plea deal to a charge of accomplice to second-degree murder and a sentence of 20 years to life in prison, dependent on cooperation.
Roy Saunders killed himself in Massachusetts before he was scheduled to turn himself in to police in April.
Dianna Saunders is scheduled for arraignment Jan. 4 at Strafford County Superior Court.
An indictment is not an indication of guilt; rather, it means a grand jury has found sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.
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