Facebook Murder-For-Hire Plot Lands Two People in Prison
A manslaughter-for-hire plot that started with a Facebook message resulted in a prison sentence for Ohio residents Christine Metter and her 77-year-old father. Metter stared at the courtroom floor on Thursday when a judge sentenced her to 10 years in prison for attempting to hire a man on Facebook to kill her ex-husband.
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Metter, 41, of Ohio and her father Al Zombory, 77, were convicted of conspiracy to commit aggravated manslaughter in January. Zombory was sentenced to nine years in prison on Tuesday.
It all started with a conversation Metter had on Facebook with a friend from high school. Metter complained about her ex-husband to the friend, saying he had custody of her oldest daughter and planned to fight for custody of the other three children. Metter's friend, Patrick Sabo, jokingly replied, "Why don't you save your money and hire a hit man LMAO," reported Beachwood Patch. But Metter took Sabo seriously. Another possible motive: Metter was allegedly the sole beneficiary of her ex-husband's $ 1.5 million life insurance policy.
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Sabo, a former Army Ranger, agreed to meet Metter and her father for dinner. Sabo would later tell the court that Metter probably assumed Sabo would know how to kill someone. The duo offered him $ 50,000 as payment for killing Metter's ex-husband, David Metter.
After the dinner, Sabo contacted the local police department. An officer went undercover to pose as the hired hitman. Later, the group convened; Sabo and the "hitman" said they finished the job. Metter was shown a doctored photo of her ex-husband bloody and with a fake bullet wound to his head -- he had been made aware of his ex-wife's plans by authorities and cooperated with the photo shoot. Metter reportedly had little reaction after being shown the image.
"I shot him in the head like you guys wanted me to do," the undercover officer said on a audio tape of the meeting as reported by news station WKYC. "Okay," Metter replied.
Metter's attorney placed the blame on her father saying he coerced her during a vulnerable time in her life. During Zombory's separate trial, he said his daughter was not involved with the plot.
Metter's attorney attempted to tarnish Sabo's reputation during the trial, saying he was after fame, but ultimately that strategy did not lead to an acquittal.
Social networks are a powerful way to connect with friends -- or in the case of some deranged individuals, orchestrate manslaughter and nefarious plots.
Do you think Metter's sentence was long enough? How about her father's? Tell us in the comments.
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, wsmahar
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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