THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310554
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON
CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 31 lines
A Newland man was arrested Wednesday night on charges that he tried to hire someone to kill his wife.
Carlton Williams, 35, of 107 Linwood Drive, was charged with solicitation to commit a murder.
Officers said Williams contacted a man who has been working as an undercover drug agent for the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Department.
The agent called Sheriff Randy Cartwright. Williams met with the man Wednesday night on Millpond Road near Williams' home.
``We body-wired our guy and taped the conversation,'' Cartwright said. ``The husband offered him a large sum of money and told him where and how to kill his wife.''
Williams planned to have his wife abducted from the home and murdered, Cartwright said. To make it look like an accident, her car was to be driven into the water on the Dismal Swamp Canal portion of U.S. Highway 17. That stretch of road has been the scene of many fatal accidents.
A deputy met Williams' wife Wednesday evening at her job at the Pasquotank Correctional Institute to ensure her safety, Cartwright said.
Williams had no prior record. He had been charged with assault and communicating threats to his wife in September, but she dismissed the charges.
Williams is being held under a $100,000 secured bond.
KEYWORDS: ARREST MURDER FOR HIRE