A jail inmate who authorities say did not want his family to testify against him at his child molestation trial is accused of trying to hire someone to set fire to his home with his family inside.
Eric William Weeks, 36, of Davenport tried to carry out his plot by mailing a map showing the floor plan of his home with instructions, authorities said. Then he called the person he mailed the map to and confirmed his scheme.
He didn’t know the person on the other end of the line was an undercover Scott County sheriff’s deputy.
“We picked up on it and ran with it,” Scott County Sheriff’s Lt. Bryce Schmidt said of the sting operation that led to new charges Friday. “He thought he was talking to someone on the outside. He was really calling a detective.”
