Trial begins today in Clark County Superior Court for a Vancouver man for 22 domestic-violence related charges.

Last week, the man was charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and solicitation to commit first-degree arson after the man attempted to hire a fellow inmate to kill his estranged wife and burn down her house while he was in Clark County Jail in January and February this year.

The man was first arrested on October 21 after his wife reported to police that he choked her to the point of unconsciousness. Police found probable cause to charge the man when she reported the incident, showing fresh marks on her neck that were consistent with her story. Courts records also show that the man had fallen into a fit of rage, breaking a TV and her cell phone when she tried to report the incident.

The man's wife later reported that, a week prior to that incident, he had punched her in the head. Sources say the wife also implicated her husband in a stabling last spring.

Last week's charges came after an unnamed third party alleged that the man asked a fellow inmate to kill his wife when the fellow inmate was released from custody. The man now faces the possibility of a lengthy sentence, solicitation to commit first-degree murder carrying a minimum of 15 years in prison.

The man has also been accused of witness tampering, after asking his wife to change her story and not to testify against him. He is currently being held in Clark County Jail on $200,000 bail.

Source: Columbian, "Vancouver man faces trial in alleged murder-for-hire plot," Laura McVicker, 4 Mar 2011.