COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - A caretaker has been convicted of arranging the killing of a Columbia art dealer after forging the disabled man's will in an effort to inherit his fortune.
A Boone County jury found James Thompson, 25, guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the April 2013 shooting death of Brian Daniels, the Columbia Missourian (http://bit.ly/1At0GNo) reported.
The 46-year-old Daniels had won a nearly $5 million settlement after he was badly injured in a 2005 apartment fire. Thompson, who testified during the trial, maintained that he was Daniels' caretaker and lover.
"He picked the perfect victim," Boone County assistant prosecutor Stephanie Morrell said, adding that Daniels also suffered from mental illness and drug abuse. "He uses his condition to manipulate everyone."
Morrell said Thompson paid $10,000 to the alleged hit man Casey Lewis, who is scheduled to be tried Feb. 23 on a first-degree murder charge. On the night of April 9, 2013, Thompson and Lewis went to Daniels' home, forced their way through the back door, went upstairs to Daniels' bedroom, shot him to death and staged the scene to look like a burglary, Morrell said. Thompson also was accused of giving Lewis, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, a car, a gun and a safe.
Morrell told the jury that Thompson started plotting Daniels' murder months in advance by tampering with the alarm system at Daniels' home and planning arrangements to flee the country.
Public defender David Wallis said much of the state's evidence was circumstantial and called prosecution witness Glenn Anderson, of St. Charles, a liar. Anderson, a friend of Thompson's who has been charged with hindering the prosecution of a felony in the case, testified that he lied to investigators about Thompson's alibi. Anderson also said that Thompson admitted to hiring Lewis to kill Daniels.
Another one of Thompson's friends, Christopher Hurt, whose signature was on Daniels' doctored will, has been charged with hindering the prosecution of a felony.
Thompson is scheduled to be sentence March 2. Morrell said the state will seek a sentence of life without parole.