Model's ex-fiance cleared in hit man case

DARLINGHURST, Australia, July 10 (UPI) -- A New South Wales Supreme Court jury in Australia has found the former fiance of jailed model Charlotte Lindstrom innocent in a hit man case.

The (Sydney) Morning Herald said in its Friday edition that Steven Spaliviero, 44, has been found innocent on all charges related to an alleged plot to hire a professional killer to eliminate two witnesses in a drug trial.

Lindstrom, 24, pleaded guilty to charges in 2007 that she acted as a messenger between her fiance, who was incarcerated awaiting his drug trial, and a hit man.

The professional killer in the case ultimately turned out to be an undercover police operative, leading to charges against both Lindstrom and Spaliviero, the Morning Herald said.

Lindstrom agreed to testify against her former fiance in order to have her three-year prison sentence reduced.

Spaliviero maintained throughout his trial that Lindstrom had acted on her own when attempting to orchestrate the professional killings.

"Although Mr Spaliviero does not agree or condone Ms Lindstrom's action he acknowledges that whatever Ms Lindstrom did was motivated by love," Spaliviero's lawyer, Chris Ford, said in a statement following the innocent verdict.