ST. ALBANS, Vt. -
Police say 41-year-old Mark Staake and his 23-year-old nephew Tanner Ruane were part of a murder-for-hire plot.
Police say the two intended targets live in the St. Albans area. But besides that police are not saying anything else about those people.
Now police say this case started across the country with a tip from New Mexico police.
"Police advised us that two subjects from the Albuquerque, New Mexico area had traveled up to Vermont for the purpose of murdering individuals," says Trooper Mark Cepiel, New York State Police.
Police say federal agents arrested Staake at the Highgate Springs border crossing. Later, police say they captured Ruane and the men's car.
"We recovered tools and documents that were associated with the conspiracy," says Cepiel.
Now both men are being held in jail and it's likely they will be sent back to New Mexico. Police say Ruane faces two conspiracy to commit murder charges and Staake faces a probation violation.
Police say Staake had been in prison and that's where he became friends with a Vermonter.
That man was Dana Martin who was convicted of a killing a Barre teenager, Deandra Florucci, in 2000.
