A Sunrise Beach woman was charged with first degree conspiracy to commit murder after soliciting assistance from an undercover Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group (LANEG) agent to allegedly kill her stepfather.
Jessica Carol Swearingen, 25, Sunrise Beach, was arrested without incident during a traffic stop June 2 following the Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control and the Camden County Sheriff's Department's joint investigation into the incident.
Trooper Kyle Seabaugh said Swearingen's husband, whose name was redacted from the probable cause statement, told Seabaugh on May 17 that Swearingen asked him to assist in murdering her stepfather, a Lake Ozark resident whose name and date of birth were also redacted from the probable cause statement.
Swearingen told Seabaugh Swearingen wanted to allegedly make arrangements to murder her stepfather, a diabetic, by tampering with his insulin. She allegedly wanted to separate him from her mother. According to the probable cause statement, Swearingen's husband said "he initially did not believe Jessica Swearingen, but as time passed, she was bringing up murdering (her stepfather) more frequently in conversation."
Swearingen allegedly asked her husband to make contact with acquaintances he met during his time in law enforcement to assist her. The husband also told Seabaugh Swearingen told him she had allegedly tampered with her stepfather's insulin in the past in an attempt to harm him, stating, "she had no issue with (the stepfather) dying."
After Swearingen allegedly solicited her husband for assistance in the murder, he immediately contacted the Camden County Sheriff's Department, who advised him to contact the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
At 8 p.m. June 2, an undercover LANEG agent met with Swearingen and another person at Walmart in Osage Beach. During the encounter, Swearingen allegedly agreed to pay the agent $50 for an undetermined quantity of Fentanyl to put in her stepfather's insulin, ultimately causing his death, the probable cause statement said.
Swearingen was asked if she could accept the consequences of the Fentanyl causing her stepfather's death, and she allegedly said she did not care what happened to him.
Before leaving, Swearingen allegedly provided the undercover agent with an empty vial of insulin and syringe she had taken from her stepfather's home. She had made arrangements for the agent to fill the empty insulin vial with Fentanyl and meet her at the same location approximately one hour later. After meeting with Swearingen, the undercover agent put water in the vial to represent Fentanyl.
At approximately 9:20 p.m. the Swearingen and the other person met the agent back at the Osage Beach Walmart, with the agent presenting her with the vial of water as Fentanyl. The agent asked Swearingen if she still intended to continue with her plan, in which she allegedly nodded her head, the probable cause statement said. Swearingen laid money on the car's center console and the agent provided her with the vial and departed the area.
That night, the Camden County Sheriff's Department conducted a traffic stop on the truck Swearingen was a passenger in, and she was arrested taken into custody without incident. The vial and syringe were seized as evidence.
On June 3, the Camden County prosecuting attorney formally charged Swearingen with conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. Bond was set at $250,000, cash only.