A judge quintupled Michelle Gaiser's bond in court Friday, setting it at half a million dollars. She hasn't bonded out yet, but prosecutors believe she may.
Unti Gaiser, 37, noticed the TV camera in court, she was all smiles. Then prosecutors read some of the evidence against her.
"Miss Gaiser was arrested on a pocket warrant and admitted that she did in fact pay money to have Miss Stern killed," the prosecutor said.
Prosecutors did most of the talking, and if they know, they wouldn't say what the motive might have been.
"I don't know that we actually have the motive right now," said prosecutor Kari Allen. "It's been my experience in these kinds of cases that it's either money, business or a love triangle."
According to police sources, Gaiser was having an affair with personal injury attorney Jeffrey Stern. Investigators say Gaiser paid $10,000 to have his wife, Yvonne Stern, killed. Court documents allege Gaiser paid the ten grand to one man who didn't follow through with the murder of Stern. Gaiser allegedly then attempted to hire a second man, offering another $10,000 if that hitman would kill the first hitman and Mrs. Stern.
Yvonne Stern was shot May 5 outside an apartment complex on North Braeswood. She survived.
Her sister, Liz Tenczynski, said, "She's healing as well as can be expected and at a future date she will be available for comment."
Police are trying to link Gaiser to two other prior incidents where someone fired into Stern's Bellaire home. The victim's sister says the truth of what happened will someday come out in court.
"We will be following this very carefully and would expect that justice will prevail," Tenczynski said.
Neither Gaiser's attorney nor Jeffrey Stern's responded to our requests for comment. Jeffrey Stern has not been charged in connection with this murder for hire scheme. He was arrested at the same time as Gaiser's arrest for allegedly carrying two guns.
If Gaiser bonds out, there are conditions she must obey, including not having contact with Mr. or Mrs. Stern, wearing an electronic monitoring device and being confined to her home.
