RENO, Nev.—A Reno man with six children has been arrested on charges he tried to hire a hit man to kill his wife so he could avoid a messy divorce and live with his new boyfriend, police said.

James Gau, 50, for weeks had been asking a man to kill his wife and gave him the address where she lives in American Fork, Utah, Reno police Sgt. Dave Evans said.

Detectives said Gau moved to Reno in the past several weeks after separating from his wife and telling her he was gay and wanted to live with his boyfriend. Evans said Gau had asked several people he met in Reno that he would pay them to kill his wife.

“For some reason, people think they can tell multiple people of their plan to kill their spouses and that they’re going to get away with it,” Evans told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “It’s amazing.”

Gau allegedly gave the man, who had tipped off police, a photo of Sheryl, his wife of 28 years, with their six children, Evans said.

Gau told the man he would pay him a couple thousand dollars after collecting his wife’s life insurance, Evans said.