Plot to kill ex-spouse draws a guilty plea
Woman, 28, receives 6-year sentence
HOT SPRINGS — A former Hot Springs woman charged with solicitation of murder in the first degree for plotting to kill her ex-husband pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Shannah Lynn Harrington, 28, of Dermott appeared before Judge Marcia Hearnsbergerand pleaded guilty to a felony count of first-degree terroristic threatening and was sentenced to the maximum of six years in prison.
Harrington was arrested Oct. 17, 2014, on a charge of conspiracy to commit capital murder, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, but prosecutors withdrew the charge Dec. 9, 2014, for further investigation.
The charge of solicitation to commit first-degree murder was filed July 24, 2015. Harrington was arrested four days later in Dermott and extradited to Hot Springs, where she has remained in custody in lieu of $75,000 bond.
Willie Eugene Evans, 51, of Little Rock, was arrested Oct. 24, 2014, on a charge of conspiracy to commit capital murder, accused of being Harrington’s accomplice. But the charge against him was withdrawn Dec. 16 and has not been refiled.
“While there were issues with the case as (originally) charged, the amendment to the lesser offense and the sentence we agreed to was a fair result, all things considered,” said Brent Miller, Harrington’s court-appointed attorney. “She was very happy with the disposition.”
Harrington will be given jail credit from the time of her arrest. She could be eligible for parole later this year.
According to affidavits, on Oct. 14, 2014, the victim filed a report with Hot Springs police stating he was contacted Oct. 11 by the boyfriend of his ex-wife, identified as Harrington, who told him Harrington had hired someone to kill him.
The boyfriend emailed him an audio recording of what he said was Harrington talking to an unknown person about killing the victim. The victim listened to the recording and confirmed it was Harrington telling someone his address; his vehicle description, including three digits of his license plate; and the manner in which she wanted him killed.
Hot Springs Police Department detective M. Fallis listened to the recording and could hear a woman say the victim’s name and tell someone how she wanted it to look like an overdose and to make sure her children were not there when it happened.
The woman is heard giving the victim’s address and vehicle description and saying, “Yes, I am sure I want it done.”
On Oct. 15, 2014, Fallis interviewed Harrington’s boyfriend, who stated he and Harrington were at the residence of a man named “Willie” about a week earlier and that while there he heard Harrington and “Willie” talking about getting someone to kill Harrington’s ex-husband.
The boyfriend said that on Oct. 11, 2014, he overheard Harrington talking to someone on the phone about paying to kill her ex-husband. When he heard what she was talking about, he started recording her conversation with his phone.
On Oct. 17, 2014, the boyfriend went back to the Hot Springs Police Department and gave detectives an address for “Willie” in Little Rock, where he and Harrington had gone. Fallis contacted Little Rock police detectives who located Evans at that address.
A photo of Evans was shown to the boyfriend, who identified him as the person he knew as “Willie” who had offered to “off” the ex-husband for Harrington.
That same day, Harrington was arrested and later questioned and reportedly admitted to talking with Evans about killing her ex-husband. She said Evans had a friend who would commit the murder for a fee and that he would have his friend contact her after he spoke to him.