State v. Disanto
Supreme Court of South Dakota
688 N.W.2d 201 (2004)
Rocco Disanto (defendant) hired a supposed hit man -- actually undercover officer Dale McCabe -- to kill his ex-girlfriend Linda Olson and her new boyfriend, giving instructions, driving McCabe to Olson's home, pointing her out, and ordering the murders to proceed before later telling a third party to temporarily put the murders on hold. Disanto was charged with and convicted of three counts of attempted murder, and he appealed, arguing his conduct amounted at most to solicitation, not attempt.
Whether soliciting another person -- including an undercover police officer with no intention of carrying out the crime -- to commit murder, without any overt act by anyone toward the killing itself, is sufficient to support a conviction for attempted murder.