Carlsbad Update: Aunt testifies niece asked about killing ex-husband

Police say the murder-for-hire plot was all part of bitter divorce custody battle.

In court for a preliminary hearing in February, Lovejoy's estranged husband Greg Mulvihill asked for his face not be shown as he went face to face with the couple who cops say tried to kill him. Mulvihill described the attack on his life as he met a man on that jogging trail.

Mulvihill told the judge he was ambushed after being lured to a remote location in hopes of getting his hands on documents that could help him in their vicious custody battle.

"As we started to come down the hill towards the car, I heard approximately six more shots in rapid succession," Mulvihill said.

Then, in March, Diana Lovejoy's aunt, Diana Clark, took the stand, telling the judge the murder-for-hire plot had been something Diana talked to her about a year before it happened.

"And she said that she would like to find a way to scare him, so that he would leave her alone," said Diana Clark. "She asked me, 'Do you know anyone who can do that, either scare him or kill him?'"

Prosecutors believe Diana Lovejoy and Weldon McDavid Jr. premeditated the attempted murder, scheming for a month over just how to carry it out, allegedly purchasing a phone to track Mulvihill, scoping out locations for the murder and a burial site afterward.

They're charged with attempted murder, conspiracy, assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury. Even though Lovejoy isn't accused of pulling the trigger, cops believe she lured her unsuspecting ex to the crime scene.

"We do believe Ms. Lovejoy was in the area at the time of the shooting."

For now, the pair sits in county jail on $2 million bail. The evidence presented at the preliminary hearing will determine whether the case goes to trial.

Lovejoy and McDavid pleaded not guilty. Lovejoy claiming she just wanted to scare her ex. McDavid saying he was set up.

Lovejoy faces 25 years behind bars; McDavid faces 50 years.

Oct. 11, 2016: Personal trainer, gun instructor conspire to kill ex-husband: Police

Diana Lovejoy is a fitness instructor who also loves to cook. But did the cheerful chef whip up a half-baked recipe for murder?

Crime Watch Daily affiliate KSWB in San Diego reports the sordid scheme was played out on the night of September 1 in an upscale Carlsbad, California neighborhood, a gorgeous coastal enclave hardly known for violent crime. But on this night, gunfire rings out. Police are called, and they're worried a sniper is running loose in the community, they make reverse-911 warning calls to shaken neighbors. It didn't take long for investigators to realize.

There was one target, only one intended victim, according to Carlsbad Police: Greg Mulvhill, the estranged husband of Diana Lovejoy. Mulvhill was shot in the side of his body on an access road by a man police say was waiting in the bushes. Police identified the suspect as Weldon McDavid Jr., a firearms instructor at a local gun range.

Diana Lovejoy was a student of McDavid's, and police are convinced the two conspired to kill Greg Mulvhill.

Reportedly the Lovejoy and Mulvhill were entangled in an epic divorce battle, with both parties getting protective orders against the other, and there was a vicious custody battle over their young son.

Prosecutors believe Lovejoy and McDavid premeditated the attempted murder, scheming for a month over just how to carry it out, allegedly purchasing a phone to track Mulvhill, scoping out locations for the murder and a burial site afterwards. They're charged with attempted murder, conspiracy, assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury.

Even though Lovejoy isn't accused of pulling the trigger, police believe she lured her unsuspecting ex to the crime scene.

"We do believe Ms. Lovejoy was in the area at the time of the shooting," police said.