A hitman hired by the victim's wife to kill for a $500,000 life insurance policy was sentenced to life plus 25 years in a Fulton County, GA courtroom for the killing. Jean Pierre Devaughn, 29 of suburban Atlanta, was sentenced by Judge Stephanie Manis Monday, April 11, 2001 for the murder of his cousin, 35 year old Eric Clark of Alabama. According to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, Clark's wife, Constance Shinell Clark, hired Devaughn to kill her husband for his life insurance.
Clark had driven to Atlanta the day he was murdered with $500 cash to get discounted alcohol for a party he was bartending, prosecutors said. Authorities learned that in the months before he died, Clark's wife had secured a $500,000 life insurance policy on her husband, prosecutors said.
The victim's mother, Janice Clark, spoke for her son during the sentencing."Not seeing his lovely face and smile has been hard for our family. Eric was loved so much and he was brutally murdered and left like trash. This man has taken his life and shown no remorse...He destroyed our son and we will never be the same."
The wife is currently serving time in federal prison for identity fraud, but is scheduled to be tried for her husband's murder.
Showing posts with label murder for hire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label murder for hire. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Husband who hired hitman to kill wife gets life without parole in Philly courtroom
A Jamaican national who had his nephew kill his estranged wife so he could have a better chance of escaping drug charges was sentenced to life without parole Friday for her murder. 46 year old Corbin Thomas was sentenced to mandatory life without parole after a Philadelphia jury convicted him of 1st degree murder of his wife, Hope Thomas. Common Pleas Court Judge Rose Marie DeFino-Nastasi presided over the trial and jury, which only took 40 minutes to deliver a guilty verdict.
Prosecutors said Thomas ordered hit hit on his wife to prevent her from testifying against him about his marijuana distribution operation, an operation which led to drug and money laundering convictions and a 35 year federal prison sentence.
On the night of Nov. 14, 1995, a gunman in a Wolfman mask accosted Hope Thomas and Danielle as the woman unlocked the door to their Cedarbrook rowhouse. The girl was tied up and left in a bedroom. Hope Thomas was led to a basement shower stall and shot in the head.
Corbin Thomas was initially suspected because the Thomases were separated, a divorce was all but final, and Hope Thomas had a protection-from-abuse order barring her husband from the house.
But the masked gunman escaped, and no physical evidence linked Corbin Thomas to scene. Police questioned and released Thomas. Four months later, he fled to Jamaica, and later to London.
He was arrested in London in 2002 and was also indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of operating a multimillion drug ring. But British authorities would not extradite him to the United States unless Philadelphia officials agreed not to seek the death penalty.
Hope's mother, Donell Morgan and daughter, now 21 year old Danielle, endured the five day trial and cross examination from Thomas, who had represented himself in the proceedings. Danielle said that "It was very hard. It was as if he disrespected me. Because I felt that he was guilty all along and he still questioned me."
Morgan said that "This has been like living a nightmare. To see it end the way it has is such a release...We always knew that he was the one who killed my daughter."
A key witness against him was Gary St. Louis Gordon, his right-hand man in the drug ring, who testified that Thomas offered him $10,000 to hire someone to kill his wife.
When a first hit man took the money and ran, Thomas turned to his nephew to do the job, Gordon testified. The nephew, Winston "Titos" Thomas, is missing and believed to have been killed in Jamaica for drug activities.
Thomas plans to appeal, and Judge DeFino-Nastasi appointed Barbara A. McDermott to handle it.
Prosecutors said Thomas ordered hit hit on his wife to prevent her from testifying against him about his marijuana distribution operation, an operation which led to drug and money laundering convictions and a 35 year federal prison sentence.
On the night of Nov. 14, 1995, a gunman in a Wolfman mask accosted Hope Thomas and Danielle as the woman unlocked the door to their Cedarbrook rowhouse. The girl was tied up and left in a bedroom. Hope Thomas was led to a basement shower stall and shot in the head.
Corbin Thomas was initially suspected because the Thomases were separated, a divorce was all but final, and Hope Thomas had a protection-from-abuse order barring her husband from the house.
But the masked gunman escaped, and no physical evidence linked Corbin Thomas to scene. Police questioned and released Thomas. Four months later, he fled to Jamaica, and later to London.
He was arrested in London in 2002 and was also indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of operating a multimillion drug ring. But British authorities would not extradite him to the United States unless Philadelphia officials agreed not to seek the death penalty.
Hope's mother, Donell Morgan and daughter, now 21 year old Danielle, endured the five day trial and cross examination from Thomas, who had represented himself in the proceedings. Danielle said that "It was very hard. It was as if he disrespected me. Because I felt that he was guilty all along and he still questioned me."
Morgan said that "This has been like living a nightmare. To see it end the way it has is such a release...We always knew that he was the one who killed my daughter."
A key witness against him was Gary St. Louis Gordon, his right-hand man in the drug ring, who testified that Thomas offered him $10,000 to hire someone to kill his wife.
When a first hit man took the money and ran, Thomas turned to his nephew to do the job, Gordon testified. The nephew, Winston "Titos" Thomas, is missing and believed to have been killed in Jamaica for drug activities.
Thomas plans to appeal, and Judge DeFino-Nastasi appointed Barbara A. McDermott to handle it.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
"Wife" sentenced to 5 years probation for murder-for-hire plot
A woman who was accused of soliciting the murder of her now ex-husband got off with 5 years of deferred adjudication and an no contact order for the victim and their three children. Catherine Shamp was sentenced Wednesday morning in a Houston courtroom. Catherine Shamp could have received 99 years in prison.
The Shamps' bizarre story started in November, when a confidential informant -- later identified as Nathan Blake, the ex-boyfriend of the Shamps' daughter, 18-year-old Ashley Shamp -- contacted Texas' Harris County Sheriff's Office and said Catherine Shamp had asked him to kill David Shamp, police said.
The sheriff's homicide department equipped Blake with recording devices before he met again with Catherine Shamp. That conversation was recorded. "The CI [Blake] recorded Catherine Shamp stating she wanted her husband murdered and would be willing to pay the 'hit man' approximately $20,000," the sheriff's office said in a statement in December.
Armed with the recording, police arrested Catherine Shamp in late November. Two days later, police arrested Ashley Shamp for allegedly being involved in the plot, but she was later released.
Ashley said that while her mother talked about getting rid of the victim, she believed that it was a joke. "She pulled me into the spare bedroom and said sort of laughing, 'Hey, I bought these pills, let's put them in your dad's beer,' and I was like, 'Why would you do that?'"
The victim was shocked to learn about the plot, believing that it was a prank at first, but his disbelief turned to devastation after police showed him recordings of his wife soliciting the hitman. David had spent Thanksgiving with the perp's parents, and there seemed to be no problems in the Shamp marriage.
The reason why Catherine did not get prison was because Harris County Assistant District Attorney Kari Allen said that the victim wanted it. "From the very beginning, he stated he did not want his wife, the mother of his children, to be put away," she said. In the courtroom, David said, "I just want to say to her the pain she gave this family, not just me, her parents, my parents." That pain included losing their home and a car.
Outside the courtroom, he said, "I have to [forgive] because I'm raising three children and if I keep that anger bottled up inside of me, then I'm going to take that home and my children are going to feed off of that anger."
The Shamps' bizarre story started in November, when a confidential informant -- later identified as Nathan Blake, the ex-boyfriend of the Shamps' daughter, 18-year-old Ashley Shamp -- contacted Texas' Harris County Sheriff's Office and said Catherine Shamp had asked him to kill David Shamp, police said.
The sheriff's homicide department equipped Blake with recording devices before he met again with Catherine Shamp. That conversation was recorded. "The CI [Blake] recorded Catherine Shamp stating she wanted her husband murdered and would be willing to pay the 'hit man' approximately $20,000," the sheriff's office said in a statement in December.
Armed with the recording, police arrested Catherine Shamp in late November. Two days later, police arrested Ashley Shamp for allegedly being involved in the plot, but she was later released.
Ashley said that while her mother talked about getting rid of the victim, she believed that it was a joke. "She pulled me into the spare bedroom and said sort of laughing, 'Hey, I bought these pills, let's put them in your dad's beer,' and I was like, 'Why would you do that?'"
The victim was shocked to learn about the plot, believing that it was a prank at first, but his disbelief turned to devastation after police showed him recordings of his wife soliciting the hitman. David had spent Thanksgiving with the perp's parents, and there seemed to be no problems in the Shamp marriage.
The reason why Catherine did not get prison was because Harris County Assistant District Attorney Kari Allen said that the victim wanted it. "From the very beginning, he stated he did not want his wife, the mother of his children, to be put away," she said. In the courtroom, David said, "I just want to say to her the pain she gave this family, not just me, her parents, my parents." That pain included losing their home and a car.
Outside the courtroom, he said, "I have to [forgive] because I'm raising three children and if I keep that anger bottled up inside of me, then I'm going to take that home and my children are going to feed off of that anger."
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