EUREKA — According to law officers, an informant told them over the weekend that a plot was under way to kill Eureka Police Chief Ricky Guthrie -- and his wife was allegedly the mastermind.

Today, Suzanne Guthrie is in Wayne County Jail. Her husband had been taken into protective custody over the weekend because the informant said the plot could have been put into operation as soon as this week.

Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders said Suzanne Guthrie was interviewed over the weekend. Motive, Winders said, was monetary gain.

Mrs. Guthrie allegedly wanted her husband killed while he was on duty so that she would be eligible for his police benefits.

The charges have come as an "extreme surprise" to Eureka residents, a town where most people know each other.

The Guthries have been married five years.