Spence is charged with two new solicitation counts from jail.

New solicitation counts filed while someone is already detained on solicitation are new accusations, not proof of either plot. Jail conversations with a confidential informant are evidence the State still has to prove, and a prior pending case is not a conviction on the new file. Orane James Spence, 34, of Magna, was charged Wednesday, in reporting dated Sept. 17, 2026, in 3rd District Court with two counts of criminal solicitation to commit murder, a first-degree felony, the same charge type as a prior case set for trial at the end of the month.

KSL, citing 3rd District Court charging documents, says that while Spence was incarcerated in the Salt Lake County Jail he allegedly approached another inmate on May 15 and asked for someone to "get rid of" his ex-wife so she would not appear in court. He allegedly said he expected a lengthy prison sentence. The inmate connected him to a confidential informant. Charging papers allege he offered up to $50,000 to kill his ex-wife and her mother and said he wanted a "clean job," a death that would raise no suspicion. Those words are what the charging documents allege. They are not a finding that he solicited a murder.

The same charging narrative says he allegedly used another inmate's calling credentials, met the confidential informant at the jail on June 21 and June 24, and on June 26 provided his ex-wife's name, driver's license number, Social Security number, and address, and told the informant in Spanish to look for her mother too. Dates, identifiers, and a language claim are evidence the State still has to prove. A jail meeting with a confidential informant is not a conviction, and this note does not reprint any identifier.

The prior case is separate. Reporting says the FBI recorded conversations with a Connecticut confidential informant, described as an online gaming buddy, in which Spence allegedly discussed making a murder look like a robbery for $10,000. That case is set for trial at the end of the month and uses the same charge type. A pending trial is not a conviction, and it does not prove the new two-count file. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.