Son hired teen to kill parents in DuPage County: police

A 23-year-old man and an 18-year-old man are facing felony charges after the younger man tried to kill the older man’s parents early Sunday in an apparent murder for hire scheme in unincorporated DuPage County.

Deputies responded about 2:50 a.m. to a call from a couple who were attacked with a hammer at their home in the 1N600 block of Park Boulevard in unincorporated Glen Ellyn, according to the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office. They both suffered serious injuries.

When deputies arrived, the couple gave them a description of their attacker, the sheriff’s office said. The suspect, Michael Targo, of Glendale Heights, was then taken into custody a short time later at a nearby business.

Investigators learned that Targo was involved in a plot to kill the couple that involved their son, Joshua Miceli, of unincorporated Glen Ellyn, the sheriff’s office said.

Over the course of the investigation, Miceli allegedly implicated himself in the scheme, which involved an agreement to pay Targo for killing his parents after they were dead, the sheriff’s office said.

Both men were charged with two felony counts of attempted first-degree murder, and Miceli also faces two additional counts of solicitation of murder, the sheriff’s office said. They are being held without bond at the DuPage County Jail awaiting March 12 court dates.

“I would like to praise our deputies for quickly apprehending these dangerous criminals and the investigators who were able to put the pieces together so swiftly,” DuPage County Undersheriff Bibbiano said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this heinous crime and we hope for their speedy recovery.”