Accused Garden City murder-for-hire plotter can see kids

The Garden City mother accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill her estranged husband will see her two younger children Saturday for the first time since her arrest - in the company of a therapist, lawyers in the case said.

Susan Williams, 43, appeared in Nassau Family Court Monday to respond to a request by her husband Peter's lawyer to extend an order of protection that prevents her seeing her younger children, ages 11 and 16, without direct supervision by a therapist.

The order also says she is not allowed to discuss her divorce or her criminal case during her time with them, Peter Williams' lawyer, Nancy Dreeben, of Garden City, said.

"The kids want to see their mom. Of course they do. And my client understands that," Dreeben said.

Susan Williams' lawyer, John Carman, of Garden City, declined to comment after the Westbury court appearance.

The couple is next due in family court May 27.

Susan Williams has been released from jail on a $500,000 bond after prosecutors said she asked an acquaintance in February to refer her to a hit man to kill her husband.

The supposed hit man - actually an undercover police officer - videotaped Williams as she paid him a $500 deposit on a $20,000 "job," prosecutors said.

Williams has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree criminal solicitation and second-degree conspiracy. If convicted, she could face a maximum of 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison. Carman has said that Williams may have taken a fantasy too far, but that she never would have followed through with the plot to kill her husband.