The ex-girlfriend of a former Houston doctor on trial for allegedly trying to have her murdered took the stand Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Leon Jacob wanted Meghan Verikas dead because he had been charged with assaulting her and stalking her after their breakup in January 2017. He didn't want her testifying against him.
Verikas testified she got a restraining order against Jacob after he began harassing her at work.
"I did everything I could to stay away from him," Verikas said.
She said she was so scared she took alternate routes to work and had friends park her car in different places.
"Some days it took me multiple hours to get home, because I felt like I was being followed, Verikas testified. "I had my vehicle checked for devices that could be tracked."
When police told Verikas that Jacob had hired a hit man to kill her, they asked her to stage kidnapping photos as part of the investigation. Prosecutors showed photos of Verikas gagged and bound and appearing to be terrified.
Prosecutors also played audio recordings of Jacob talking to an undercover officer posing as a hit man.
"She’s gone. All of this goes away," he said.
Defense attorney George Parnham said Jacob just wanted Verikas to leave town -- not be killed.
Parnham introduced emails that indicated their relationship appeared to be strong in the weeks leading up to the breakup. Jacob's email address was "LeonLovesMeghanV@gmail.com."
Last March, Jacob began dating veterinarian Valerie McDaniel. Prosecutors say the couple was also planning to have McDaniel's ex-husband killed.
Mark McDaniel testified he thought of his young daughter when police told him about the plot.
If they would have been successful, Natalie wouldn’t have had any parents," McDaniel said.