John Franklin Howard has been charged with criminal solicitation of capital murder. (credit: Carrollton Police Department)

CARROLLTON (CBS 11 NEWS) – The attack on a woman in Carrollton has had a bizarre development with the arrest of her own husband.

John Franklin Howard was arrested Sunday charged with criminal solicitation of capital murder. The arrest comes just over a week after his wife was shot in the face by an alleged intruder inside their Carrollton home’s garage.

For days after the shooting, neighbors like Dianne Cole worried about their safety, but now they say they are simply stunned.

“I feel very sad for Nancy because it would just be so hard to handle, but I also feel a little safer now. I’ve been pulling in my garage and getting in the garage and closing the garage door before I got out of the car. So, I don’t have to do that anymore,” Cole said

An arrest affidavit obtained by CBS11 says John Howard first began plotting to hire a hit man in March 2009. Over the course of the next several years, the affidavit says he spent tens of thousands of dollars on would-be “assassins.”

Police say he provided pictures of his wife and said he wanted her murder to “look like an accident” — even specifying he wanted the killer to use a knife or bat rather than a gun.

The affidavit says Dustin Hiroms identified himself as a hit man to Carrollton Police. He was arrested on August 24 in Van, Texas for the aggravated robbery of Nancy Howard.

And only five days ago, Frank Howard posted a message on his wife’s Caring Bridge website saying,

“Please pray for Nancy’s comfort so she can get her much needed rest…Thanks for all your prayers and support.”

But tonight, Howard is charged with plotting to kill his wife and in jail on a one-million dollar bond.

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