NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A 22-year-old man has been convicted of hiring three homeless men in an attempt to have them kill his wife and unborn daughter.
News outlets report that a jury on Monday found Tony Johnson guilty of attempted capital murder for hire, malicious wounding and conspiracy. The jury recommended that he be sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Prosecutor Ramin Fatehi says Johnson was going to give his co-conspirators a cut of his wife’s $400,000 life insurance to stage a break-in at the couple’s Norfolk home, pretend to choke Johnson and then kill 19-year-old Lizzy Shelton.
One of the men, Tristan Reeder, testified that they staged the attack on Aug. 22 and thought Shelton was dead when they fled the apartment. Shelton survived and gave birth to 8-pound Ember Rose Johnson in September.
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