SKOWHEGAN (AP) – A jail inmate from Fairfield who allegedly tried to hire an undercover detective to murder his pregnant wife on Halloween is facing a string of felony charges.

Victor Frascone, 28, was arrested Monday at the Somerset County Jail, where he was serving six months for domestic assault on his wife.

Detective Lt. Carl Gottardi II of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department, who was posing as the potential hit man, said Frascone tried to hire him to murder his wife and their unborn child as well as a man with whom his wife may have been having a relationship.

Authorities said Frascone, whose wife has a permanent protection-from-abuse order filed against him, had specified that the murders take place on Halloween night and that his wife undergo a painful death.

“He wanted this person killed in a very painful, deliberate way,” District Attorney Evert Fowle said. “He wanted her to suffer. What Mr. Frascone was allegedly proposing be done is the worst-case scenario in domestic violence.”

In return, Gottardi said he was to be paid off in prescription drugs. He said the inmate even arranged to have a small quantity of drugs dropped off at his home as a down payment. Gottardi said Frascone was arrested after police found the drugs in the location where the inmate said they would be.

The charges against Frascone, who was scheduled to appear Wednesday in Skowhegan District Court, include solicitation to commit murder, solicitation to commit elevated aggravated assault on a pregnant person and aggravated drug trafficking. If convicted, he faces a total of up to 50 years in prison.