The convicted killer who allegedly gunned down a Somerville father while out on parole late last year is now charged with plotting the murders of his wife and two other witnesses in the current case against him, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

EDWARD CORLISS (D.O.B. 2/7/46) was held on $4 million cash bail today following his arraignment on four counts of witness intimidation. Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Connie Wong set that amount after Conley’s chief trial counsel, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Haggan, recommended it as appropriate to the four new charges, which come almost five months after his indictment for first-degree murder, armed robbery while masked, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

“The facts speak for themselves,” Conley said. “These are chilling allegations in an already shocking case. The word ‘unrepentant’ comes to mind.”

Corliss’ parole on an unrelated offense was revoked shortly before his arrest for the Dec. 26, 2009, shooting death of 39-year-old Surendra Dangol during a robbery at the Jamaica Plain convenience store at which Dangol worked. As a result, Corliss was held at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Cedar Junction. It was there, Haggan said, that Corliss befriended a fellow inmate serving a brief sentence on a parole violation.

Corliss had access to the names of and identifying information about witnesses who had cooperated in the investigation through discovery materials provided to his attorney, Haggan said.

“After detailing the evidence against him, the defendant told the inmate he wanted him to kill three of the witnesses who testified against him, most importantly his wife,” Haggan told the court.

“Specifically, he told the inmate that he wanted him to kidnap and kill her,” Haggan said, adding that Corliss wanted the inmate to “make it look like natural causes or … kill and bury her in a way that her body would not be found.”

Corliss also gave information on two other witnesses, Haggan said, suggesting that one was “careless” with his stove and that the inmate “could blow up the whole apartment and make it look like an accident.”

Corliss also sought the inmate’s assistance in escaping from prison, Haggan said, with visits to the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital or Suffolk Superior Court as potential times for the inmate to shoot and kill the corrections officers transporting him.

As payment for the assassinations and his help in escaping from prison, Corliss promised the inmate $2 million in proceeds from an armored car heist that Corliss was also plotting, Haggan said.

The inmate was released from custody in March and immediately contacted authorities. Using the information and instructions that Corliss allegedly provided to the inmate, Boston Police set up a post office box with a phony name and began corresponding with Corliss. In the weeks and months that followed, Corliss allegedly sent a series of letters that included apparently-coded references to “the work that needs to be done.”

Catherine Rodriguez is the DA’s victim-witness advocate assigned to the case. Corliss is represented by attorney John Hayes. The case will return to court on Sept. 9.