DID LOVE RAT LAWYER WANT WIFE WHACKED?

Yvonne Stern, left, love rat hubby Jeffrey, right

WOW! WHAT A MESS! A prominent Texas lawyer charged with hiring gunsels to whack his socialite wife will turn himself in today. Jeffrey Stern was indicted last week on the alleged murder-for-hire conspiracy. The cheeky accused killer even asked the DA if the whole matter could be put off... until

The impatient other woman

after this weekend when his son has his Bar Mitzvah.
The conspiracy and all its entanglements was TEXAS-SIZED. COPS SAY:
* Stern got his mistress, Michelle Gaiser, to arrange the murder of his wife Yvonne last spring.
* Yvonne was shot in the stomach May 5--but survived.
* On April 15, someone fired a bullet through the window of the couple's suburban Houston home.
* She was also targeted in a drive-by shooting last February.
* Stern is the fifth person charged in a case cops are calling "complicated."
* Nhut Nguyen, James Lowery and Richard Gutierrez have been charged in the case, as well.
Nguyen is charged with aggravated assault in connection with the shooting on April 15.

Prosecutors have characterized Gutierrez as the "middle man" in the plot, saying he was offered $20,000 by Gaiser to have Yvonne Stern killed, then approached his brother about the hit.

Stern has admitted the affair but denied wanting his wife dead. Yvonne filed for divorce last year. Reason? Adultery, natch. Recently the pair have been spotted and pals say "appeared very much in love."
Yvonne said through her lawyer:

"On behalf of her family, Mrs. Stern would like everyone to respect their privacy as this matter unfolds.Mrs. Stern and her family continue to firmly believe in their father’s innocence and will stand beside him throughout this process," attorney Chip Lewis said.