Legal Juice

Kathryn Smith, 49, of Connecticut, had been dating Stephen Schnell for about 4 years. Schnell knew Smith and her 20-year-old son Nicholas Taylor were not doing too well, so he often gave her cash, took the two of them out to dinner, and bought Smith cigarettes. How did Smith and her son repay him? By hiring a hit man to kill him!

The crazy thing (aside from the fact that the up-front payment to the hit man was $50!) is that Smith somehow thought she would get $100,000 from Schnell's retirement plan - which he didn't even have! Fortunately, the would-be hit man, an old flame of Smith's, went straight to the police. Smith pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. Her son entered an Alford plea (a weasel's way of pleading guilty).

How does Schnell feel about his former girlfriend? "I'm pushing for the 12 [years - the maximum sentence]; she deserves it. For everything I did for her and for her to do that to me, she deserves every day. Sentencing will take place in August.

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