Danton, woman are indicted on federal charges

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton and a woman were indicted Thursday in Illinois on federal charges they schemed to kill an acquaintance of the hockey player.

The counts mirror those of a criminal complaint filed in East St. Louis, Ill., against Danton and Katie Wolfmeyer, accusing the two of conspiring to hire a hit man and of using a telephone across state lines to set it up.

Danton, 23, was arrested last Friday in California, a day after the Blues were eliminated from the playoffs.

Federal authorities say Danton tried to pay $10,000 for the murder of an unidentified acquaintance at Danton's suburban St. Louis apartment. The men argued April 13 over Danton's "promiscuity and use of alcohol," and Danton feared the acquaintance would talk to Blues management and ruin Danton's career, authorities say.

Wolfmeyer, 19, apparently was unaware the supposed contract killer she allegedly was helping hire was secretly working with the FBI.

Ronald Tenpas, the U.S. attorney for Illinois' southern district, on Thursday refused to confirm media accounts, quoting unnamed law enforcement sources, that Danton's agent, David Frost, perhaps was the target of the murder-for-hire scheme.

"We are not identifying the acquaintance by name," Tenpas said, citing the potential victim's privacy.

Wolfmeyer made her initial appearance Monday in federal court in East St. Louis, Ill., then was freed on $100,000 bond and scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 30.

Though Wolfmeyer's attorney has said his client had been lied to by Danton, Tenpas said, "I believe that the facts as laid out in the affidavit show this was more than a momentary lapse in judgment."