Police say prison guard plotted to kill spouse

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — A state prison guard was jailed Saturday, accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband so she could get a life insurance payout and continue an affair with an inmate.

Pamela J. Dickens, 47, was arrested Friday after a six-month investigation by the Department of Corrections. Officials had received a tip that she was having the affair and trying to get her husband, also a prison guard, killed.

She was taken into custody after meeting with an undercover detective posing as a hitman, said Pueblo Police Capt. John Barger.

Dickens made a small down payment during the meeting, showed the detective the insurance policy along with pictures of her husband and their home in Florence, where the killing was to take place, police said.