84-Year-Old Inmate Accused Of Trying To Hire A Hitman
From the archive: published Apr 19, 2013, 13 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Conroe, TX – An 84-year-old woman will be facing charges for trying to orchestrate the murder of the county prosecutor in her case, as well as an assault on his boss.
Dorothy Canfield, already in jail on theft charges, has been accused and admitted to trying to hire a hit man to attack Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon and have his associate, assistant district attorney Rob Freyer, killed.
Authorities suspect the inmate was inspired by the recent slayings in Kaufman County – the shooting deaths of Texas prosecutors District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse – and attempted to arrange something similar.
An informant alerted the authorities on April 1 of Canfield’s intentions. On April 8, while in county jail, Canfield divulged her murderous plot to a wired undercover officer over the phone, telling him she would pay $5,000 for Freyer’s murder, a bonus of $2,500 to put Ligon in the hospital, and needed it done as soon as possible.
On the taped conversation, Canfield said she had $647,000 as proof she could pay. Neither were harmed, and when confronted during an interview with Texas Rangers, Canfield confessed.
Canfield’s original arrest stemmed from her impersonating an immigration attorney and bilking clients. Records showed the woman had a history of forgery dating back from 1993. Her bond was set at $500,000 in the theft case.
Ligon addressed the issue, with little sympathy to the woman’s age. “The fact of the matter is the person she was trying to hire was a very robust, young guy that was able to carry out her intentions. Don’t get lost in the fact what her age is.”
Canfield will answer to charges of solicitation of capital murder and solicitation to commit aggravated assault on a public servant. If convicted on a first-degree or capital charge of soliciting capital murder and assault, Canfield could spend the rest of her life in jail and have an imposed fine of up to $10,000.
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