A small Kansas town is shocked by allegations against one of their own. A 53 year-old Elkhart woman was arrested this week after police say she hatched a murder-for-hire plot against her husband.

Dorthy Clinkingbeard is being held in the Morton County Jail on $500,000 cash bond after allegedly paying an undercover KBI agent to kill her husband.

"This is the first time I've dealt with a case of this magnitude," says Sheriff Justin Holliday. "So this is pretty big for Elkhart."

Clinkingbeard's neighbor, Tracey Fernandez, says the couple seemed friendly when she first met them five years ago. News of the arrest is hard for her and other neighbors to believe.

"She's a nice person," explains Marge Smith, Clinkingbeard's neighbor. "I never thought she could do something like this."

Clinkingbeard is charged with criminal solicitation to commit premeditated first degree murder. She is scheduled to appear in Morton County District Court Friday, where a preliminary hearing date will be scheduled.