A Hicksville man convicted last month of murdering his mother-in-law admitted in Nassau County court on Wednesday to attempting to hire a hit man from his jail cell to murder his sister-in-law before she could testify against him.

Harpal Hira

Harpal Hira, 34, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal solicitation. He is currently awaiting sentencing after a jury found him guilty on Feb. 19 of second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, three counts of assault and four counts of criminal contempt.

He faces up to 50 years to life in prison for the murder and up to seven years for the plot. He will be sentenced on March 31.

Hira was at the Syosset home of his wife, Ritika, to attend a party for their twin infant sons on Aug. 2, 2008. Though the couple was separated and his wife had taken out an order of protection against her husband, Hira had been invited. The two got into an argument, and Ritika’s 56-year-old mother, Meena Kohli, tried to break it up.

Hira grabbed a kitchen knife, stabbed Kohli multiple times in the head, back, and abdomen, then stabbed his wife in the head, torso, and arms before fleeing the scene. The wife survived but her mother did not.

After a nearly month-long manhunt, Hira was apprehended along with a friend who has since been charged with helping Hira elude authorities. 

Then, in June 2009, investigators learned of Hira’s jailhouse attempts to hire a hit man to kill his sister-in-law, who was scheduled to testify at his trial. Authorities enlisted the help of an informant who brokered a meeting between Hira and an undercover officer posing as a hit man.

Hira was recorded on an electronic surveillance device and was heard giving the undercover officer personal background information on his sister-in-law, including information on her possible whereabouts. At later meetings, Hira agreed to pay $10,000 in exchange for the murder.

“With the amount of blood already on his hands, it is shocking that this defendant thought nothing of trying to end another innocent woman’s life,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement.