Man Charged in Murder-for-Hire Case in New Britain: Police

A New Britain man has been charged with criminal attempt to commit murder with special circumstances in what police are calling a murder-for-hire case. 

Few details have been released, but police said they took 22-year-old Talal Qatabi, of New Britain, into custody around 11:30 a.m. Monday on Broad Street in New Britain after obtaining a warrant earlier in the morning.

Qatabi was taken to police headquarters and charged with one count of criminal attempt to commit murder with special circumstances and inciting injury to persons or property.

Bond was set at $750,000 and police said the court has sealed the warrant for Qatabi and no additional details are available.

Qatabi's lawyer, Jon Schoenhorn, said police set up his client. He said his client and several other people saw a Facebook post showing a man making threats and his Qatabi "made the mistake of commenting on that video." He said a man approached Qatabi and offered to kill a man in the video and no money was exchanged.

When he was arrested, police said Qatabi had 10 vials of THC oil and he was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance and failure to appear in the second degree that was connected to a previous arrest out of Plainville.

Qatabi was held overnight in New Britain on $785,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court in New Britain today.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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