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Murder
for hire
by
Danielle Hillix
Landmark reporter
Detectives
from the Platte County Sheriff's Department served an
arrest warrant on Friday to Eric M. Payne, 26, for a probation
violation after Payne attempted to hire an undercover
detective to kill his ex-girlfriend.
Payne, from Peculiar, Mo., pled guilty last
January to a class C felony of tampering in the first
degree after cutting the phone lines at the home of his
ex-girlfriend, a Platte County resident.
Payne received a suspended imposition of sentence, was
placed on probation for three years and was ordered to
serve 30 days "shock time" in the Platte County
Detention Center.
While incarcerated, Payne attempted on three occasions
to hire a fellow inmate to kill his ex-girlfriend.
On July 31, sheriff's detectives arranged for the inmate
to supply Payne with the name and number of an undercover
detective that would pose as a contract killer.
One day later, Payne made contact with the detective.
He requested that the murder look like an accident, and
offered $1,000 for the service. Payne then supplied the
detective with the address of the ex-girlfriend.
Payne remains in jail at the Platte County Detention
Center. According to Shelle Browning, public information
officer for the sheriff's department, since Payne was
already incarcerated when served with the arrest warrant,
his probation is revoked. He now faces up to a three year
sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
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