A Minnesota man was busted after his alleged murder-for-hire plot failed for the second time since 2021.

Robert Charles Thomas Sr., 38, allegedly wanted to kill an unnamed "close acquaintance" that he believed was sleeping with his wife and from whom he believed he could inherit a "substantial" inheritance, the Todd County, Minnesota, Sheriff's Office said. 

Local news outlets reported that the "close acquaintance" is a family member, but court documents disclose the target's name.

The first time around, in 2021, Thomas allegedly hired a hit man for $10,000, but the hired gun didn't follow through with the murder, according to court documents. 

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Thomas allegedly tried again this year, but law enforcement was tipped off ahead of time and set up a sting operation last month that included the Todd County Sheriff’s Office, the West Central Minnesota Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

An undercover BCA agent posing as an assassin arranged a meeting with Thomas last month in a Long Prairie, Minnesota, grocery store parking lot, the sherif's office said.

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The two spoke in a car, where Thomas allegedly detailed his plan during an hour-long conversation that was recorded on video, mprnews.org reported based on court documents. 

Thomas provided the undercover agent with the target's habits, vehicle information and places frequently visited, KSTP reported based on court documents. 

He allegedly said he wanted the family member "just gone," instead of maimed or injured, according to KSTP.

The two allegedly agreed on $50,000 to be paid in installments, which Thomas said he could pull together by selling off his inherited assets, and the hit would take place after the Easter weekend unless Thomas called it off, according to the local news outlet. 

On Monday, Thomas was arrested after he allegedly told the undercover agent there was no need to wait to carry out the plot, and later allegedly admitted to the crime while being questioned by the Todd County Attorney's Office. 

Thomas was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and is scheduled to be back in court on May 1. 

If convicted, he could service 20 years in prison. 

The explosion that killed at least 18,000 cattle at a dairy farm in Dimmitt, Texas, earlier this week is the deadliest barn fire involving cattle in the state, according to a nonprofit organization.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) told Fox News Digital in a statement via email that the incident at Southfork Dairy Farm on Monday night is "by far the deadliest barn fire for cattle overall and the most devastating barn fire in Texas since we began tracking barn fires in 2013."

"We hope the industry will remain focused on this issue and strongly encourage farms to adopt commonsense fire safety measures," said Allie Granger, policy associate for AWI's farm animal program. "It is hard to imagine anything worse than being burned alive."

Nearly 6.5 million farm animals have died in barn fires since 2013, according to an AWI report. In 2021 alone, the report said that 681,825 farm animals were killed in barn fires. 

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Farm animals are often packed into barns, limiting the opportunity to escape during an emergency and contributing to the high number of animal fatalities during barn fires, the nonprofit’s report said.

The Castro County Sheriff’s Office previously confirmed with FOX Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred.

Castro County Sheriff Sal Rivera told KFDA that while some cows did survive, others "are probably injured to the point where they’ll have to be destroyed."

While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Rivera told the station it is likely that a vacuum that sucks in manure and blows out water may have gotten overheated and caused methane and other properties to ignite.

The AWI analysis said that of the 539 total barn fires between 2018 and 2021, the cause or likely cause was reported in just 179 cases – or about 33%. In many of the remaining cases, the destruction was too severe to determine a cause, and, in some cases, the cause remains under investigation.

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In those 179 cases, the report stated that nearly two-thirds of the barn fires involved electrical heating devices or other electrical malfunctions.

Some of the deadliest barn fires recorded occurred at a facility in Bloomfield, Nebraska, in which 400,000 chickens were killed in 2020, and another in Waseca County, Minnesota, where 12,000 pigs died in 2021, according to the report.

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The blast at the Southfork Dairy Farm also critically injured one employee. She was being treated at a hospital and no update on her condition was immediately available.