Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9411020014
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Medium
The student allegedly wanted the doctor killed so the student could pursue the doctor's wife, the FBI said.
Andrew Scott Morin, 20, of Woodland, Calif., was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Alexandria and is scheduled to appear Sept. 26 in U.S. District Court. He is free on bond.
Morin's alleged plot was foiled when he reportedly tried to recruit the private investigator. The FBI then had an agent pose as a hit man and record meetings.
No harm ever came to the doctor, Armando Soto-Bararra, 35, who lives in the Manila area with his wife, Raginhal Perstolen. Morin had known the couple well when they lived in the San Jose, Calif., area, authorities said, and the doctor once coached him in karate. Morin allegedly concocted the plot shortly after the couple moved to the Philippines.
Authorities said Soto-Bararra's wife was not implicated in the case.
Morin could face up to 25 years in prison and a $750,000 fine if convicted.
In court papers, the FBI said Morin told the agent in a telephone conversation that he considered killing Soto-Bararra himself, ``which he had heard was not too terribly difficult in the Philippines, but he would rather have an extra buffer.''
In the conversation, Morin warned the agent that an accident might be difficult to stage, but a robbery or hit-and-run would work, the FBI said. He agreed to pay $10,000 plus air fare and expenses, the court papers said.
Morin was arrested June 26 when he met the agent at an Alexandria hotel and gave him $1,400 and a round-trip airline ticket, authorities said.
by CNB