Wendy Coe

For the past three years, a Cody woman denied the accusation that she tried to arrange the execution of her son-in-law and claimed she’d been entrapped. But on Monday, Wendy D. Coe formally took a plea deal rather than take the case to trial.

Appearing in Park County District Court in Cody, Coe pleaded “no contest” to a reduced felony count of attempted aggravated assault and battery.

“You’re not admitting guilt or denying guilt,” District Judge Bill Simpson said of the plea, “but for sentencing purposes, you will be treated as if you pled guilty.”

The Park County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had originally charged Coe with a felony count of soliciting first-degree murder — a crime that carries a lifelong prison sentence. However, the charge was reduced as part of the deal, and prosecutors agreed to seek no more than five to eight years of prison time for the offense. Coe, who turns 57 this year, remains free to request probation when she returns to court for sentencing.

Judge Simpson gave no indication of how he might rule.

“The court could give you a term less than five to eight years, could give you probation, but there is no guarantee whatsoever,” he told Coe of the deal’s parameters. “The only guarantee is that you would not receive any more than [five to] eight years …”

The judge directed Coe to report to the Wyoming Department of Probation and Parole later in the day so the office can begin preparing a pre-sentence report.

The background

In pleading no contest, Coe said nothing about her actions. Instead, a narrative composed by Cody Police Det. Scott Burlingame in late 2023 was used as the basis for her conviction.

In that affidavit, Burlingame described multiple conversations that Coe had with a supposed hitman — who was actually an undercover agent with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.

During her discussions with the agent, Coe reportedly said she wanted her son-in-law “gone,” saying he was using drugs and mistreating her daughter.

The agent suggested the murder could be made to look like a drug deal gone bad. Coe offered that it could look like an overdose, but when the undercover officer said he’d prefer to shoot the man, Coe reportedly responded, “Works for me.”

However, the affidavit says she never struck a deal with the supposed hitman, reportedly telling him she didn’t have the money.

Coe was arrested in December 2023 and spent roughly seven months in jail before posting a $50,000 surety bond. Her court-appointed attorney, Sam Krone, said his client has done “an exceptional job on bond,” with no violations over the past two-plus years.

“Everything’s been going well,” Krone said in court on Monday.

A case of entrapment?

Had the case gone to trial, Krone indicated that he planned to argue Coe had been “entrapped” by law enforcement. He argued in a 2025 filing that “the government induced the commission of the alleged crime and the Defendant lacked predisposition to engage in the criminal conduct.”

A few dozen people also signed a letter on Coe’s behalf last fall, pointing to the ways she has helped others before and after her arrest. The letter suggested Coe should be put on probation and given a chance to keep helping others instead of being punished “for words.”

“Trying to get a criminal to go away and to protect your family should not be a crime,” says a portion of the letter.

However, Chief Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele said last year that it was evident Coe “acted of her own volition to solicit a hired assassin.”

Coe first mentioned wanting to kill her son-in-law in early December 2023 and “continued to prod [a person] about her need almost daily,” Eichele wrote in a July filing. The prosecutor said Coe also unsuccessfully tried getting another Cody resident to carry out the hit before she was put in touch with the undercover agent.

Eichele added that Coe provided the agent with personal information about her son-in-law — including where he lived and worked — and discussed the best way to arrange for the death.

“... the Defendant actively sought to have another person killed,” Eichele wrote. “In her own words, The Defendant merely postponed her plan solely based on her financial situation.”

Charging documents say Coe told the agent she couldn’t afford the $10,000 price he’d suggested, and that it wouldn’t be fair to have him carry out the hit for less.

A trial was set to start Monday, but was scrapped earlier this month, when the parties announced they were approaching a deal.

Under the amended aggravated assault charge, Coe has been found guilty of attempting to “cause serious bodily injury to another intentionally, knowingly or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

Coe’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled.