Woman Convicted Of Hiring Killers

A former high school teacher’s aide was convicted Saturday of bribing three teenagers with cash and the promise of more riches to kill her husband.

Diane Borchardt, 46, who was in a bitter divorce fight, was convicted of recruiting the boys with $600 and promising them cars, jewelry and $20,000 from her estranged husband’s life insurance.

The three were convicted in separate trials of sneaking into the couple’s home on April 3, 1994, and shooting Ruben Borchardt to death. His wife was out of town.

She awaits sentencing to a mandatory life term on her murder conviction.

Douglas Vest Jr., 17, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. Joshua Yanke, 17, was sentenced to 18 years on his no-contest plea to second-degree homicide. Michael Maldonado, 16, identified by Yanke as the triggerman, was convicted of murder and awaits sentencing to life.