Fort Cavazos soldier accused of helping brother set up murder-for-hire plot involving child victims

FORT CAVAZOS, Texas (KWTX) - Sergeant Jeremiah Peikert, 30, who works as a network communications systems specialist for the U.S. Army and is currently assigned to the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Fort Cavazos, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit risk of injury to a minor, after he helped his brother set up a murder-for-hire plot, an arrest warrant states.

The soldier’s brother, Joshua Peikert, 31, was also arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit risk of injury to a minor. Both Peikert brothers are being held on $500,000 bonds in Connecticut.

The investigation involves a conspiracy to hire a hitman to kill a 29-year-old woman, her 10-year-old girl, one-year-old girl, and the woman’s 23-year-old boyfriend, an arrest warrant states.

State police detectives began investigating the case on Oct. 19, 2023, after a “suspicious incident” involving an inmate was reported at the at Corrigan Correctional Center in Montville, CT.

A former inmate of the facility, referred to in the documents as Witness #1, and who is now incarcerated at another prison, allegedly sent a handwritten letter to the 29-year-old woman detailing a “murder-for-hire” plot targeting her family.

Witness #1 planned the murder-for-hire plot with Joshua Peikert while they were both cellmates at Corrigan, documents state. Corrigan instructed Witness #1 to find a hitman to murder the victims. The arrest warrant states the 29-year-old woman received a handwritten letter from Witness #1 warning her she was in danger, and she immediately alerted authorities.

When detectives spoke with Witness #1, he said that while they were cellmates, Joshua Peikert told him he wanted the four victims dead. Witness #1 revealed to detectives that he told Joshua Peikert he knew people who take care of the hit for him and that it would cost him about “$10,000 a head for each person killed,” the arrest warrant states.

Joshua Peikert allegedly told Witness #1 that it was “doable” and that “he would pay half up front and half after it was done,” the arrest warrant further states.

Joshua Peikert, Witness #1 alleged, wrote down the address where the victims lived, provided details about where they slept, and revealed the location of a hidden key that could be used to gain entrance into the victims’ home, the warrant states.

Witness #1 told investigators he had no intention of ever harming the victims or helping Joshua Peikert find a hitman. However, Witness #1 did acknowledge he asked Joshua Peikert for a $500 “finder’s fee,” according to the arrest warrant.

Witness #1 said he received two transfers, one in the amount of $100, and a second in the amount of $150, from Joshua Peikert’s brother, Jeremiah Peikert.

Joshua Peikert was eventually bonded out of jail, but continued to communicate with Witness #1 about the “construction job” and the “materials” needed to complete the job, which according to Witness #1, where code for the murder-for-hire.

Joshua Peikert was eventually arrested on another unrelated offense and ended up bumping into Witness #1 in a jail recreational area. When Joshua Peikert asked Witness #1 why nothing had happened yet, Witness #1 “played dumb” and acted as if Joshua Peikert’s brother messed up the transfer of the $250, the arrest warrant states.

Witness #1 was later assaulted by an inmate at the jail, and while in the infirmary, decided to write a letter to the 29-year-old woman to warn her that Joshua Peikert wanted her and her children dead, the warrant states. The document does not explain why Witness #1 was assaulted.

Witness #1 then provided detectives with a note allegedly written by Joshua Peikert containing the address and information regarding the victims. At the bottom of the note, the word “job” was written along with Joshua Peikert’s signature, the arrest warrant states. The 29-year-old woman would later confirm to detectives that the address and information Joshua Peikert wrote in the note were accurate, the warrant states.

Detectives were provided the inmate financial account information for Witness #1 and confirmed Jeremiah Peikert deposited $100 and $150 into the account using a credit card, the arrest warrant states.

“It was later confirmed that Jeremiah Peikert is Joshua Peikert’s younger brother and a member of the armed forces,” detectives wrote in the arrest warrant.

Detectives obtained warrants to review Witness #1′s jail phone calls and learned he placed three phone calls to a phone number assigned to Jeremiah Parker, who lived in Copperas Cove, Texas, while working at Fort Cavazos, the warrant states. During one of the phone calls, Witness #1 and Jeremiah Peikert discuss the money transfers and Jeremiah reveals he is in the military and lives near Austin, Texas, the warrant states.

In another phone call, Witness #1 calls Jeremiah Peikert and asks him to write down a message for Joshua Peikert to let him know that the “hitman” who was supposed to take care of the job was arrested in Florida. Witness #1 reassures Jeremiah Peikert that the job would still get done because the hitman accepted Joshua Peikert’s offer, only that it would “take a little while to happen, maybe two weeks.”

Witness #1 then orders Jeremiah Peikert to warn Joshua Peikert not to “go back on the deal” after the job is done because Witness #1 still has the handwritten note written by Joshua Peikert and that “it would not be a good thing for them.”

On Dec. 19, 2023, detectives traveled to Fort Cavazos and were given permission to speak with Jeremiah Peikert. During that interview, Jeremiah Peikert admitted to detectives he had communicated with Witness #1 and that he deposited a total of $250 into Witness #1′s inmate financial account at the request of his brother, Joshua Peikert.

Jeremiah Peikert acknowledged to detectives that in his phone conversations with Witness #1 he discussed the “construction job” and the “materials” needed for the job, detectives wrote in the affidavit. The detectives then informed Jeremiah Peikert that the “construction job” and “materials” were actually arrangements his brother, Joshua, made with Witness #1 to pay $10,000 to have the 29-year-old woman and her children murdered.

In a statement written after his interview with the detectives, Jeremiah Peikert wrote, “I knew the ‘construction job’ was not related to any type of actual construction ... Based on conversations I had with Josh and Witness #1 over the phone, I knew the ‘job’ was related to having (the 29-year-old woman) hurt.”

In the written statement, Jeremiah Peikert further reveals he was unaware of the specifics of the murder-for-hire plot, “but knew the money I sent was being paid to Witness #1 for his role in arranging to have (the 29-year-old woman) hurt.”

Jeremiah Peikert further wrote, “I did not believe the kids were planned to be involved in this scheme. I initially did not want any involvement in this plan, and I reluctantly transferred the money ... because Josh and Witness #1 kept pressuring me to send the money for the ‘job.’”

According to the arrest warrant, Jeremiah Peikert told detectives he was not surprised his brother wanted the 29-year-old woman dead because his brother was very manipulative and had displayed violent tendencies when they were growing up.

“It makes sense now,” Jeremiah Peikert wrote in his statement.

Detectives arrested Joshua Peikert on April 1, 2024; and Jeremiah Peikert on May 2, 2024.

Jeremiah Peikert joined the Army on June 4, 2012, according to officials at Fort Cavazos.

“The U.S. Army and officials at Fort Cavazos are cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation,” the Army post wrote in a statement sent to KWTX. “The Army takes allegations of criminal behavior by its members extremely seriously and will continue to work closely with law enforcement. Charges are merely accusations and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

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