Local woman indicted on murder plot charges SAYREVILLE - - A borough woman was indicted last week on charges she attempted to have her husband murdered in 2003. Christine Palumbo, 46, of Vanloan Avenue, is charged with conspiring with Joseph P. Cheeka, 28, of Roselle Park, Union County, to hire a hit man to kill her husband, Vincent Palumbo. The charges resulted from an investigation by the State Police Organized Crime and Narcotics Unit. Cheeka, who was a co-worker of Vincent Palumbo's at FedEx in Newark, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy in January 2004 and was given a five-year sentence in state prison by Superior Court Judge John F. Malone in Union County. "These individuals, Christine Palumbo, Joseph Cheeka and Vincent Palumbo, all knew each other," said Peter Aseltine, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office. "They were all friends at one time." Troubles in the Palumbos' marriage, along with a dispute over money between Cheeka and Vincent Palumbo, strained their ties and led to the murder plot between May 28 and June 5, 2003, Aseltine said. Cheeka reportedly gave personal information about Vincent Palumbo to a hit man that year, and described how the killing should take place. However, the man he believed to be a contract killer turned out to be an undercover state trooper. In the weeks following, Cheeka gave the undercover trooper $2,500 as a down payment for the planned murder at a shopping center in New Providence, Union County, authorities said. Cheeka was arrested June 5, 2003. Christine Palumbo was arrested at her home in Sayreville the same day. Both she and Cheeka were held at the Union County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. However, Christine Palumbo, who was charged with first-degree attempted murder and criminal conspiracy, has been out on bail since that time. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.