Couple arrested for alleged murder-for-hire
D.A.: Accused drug dealer attempted to have someone killed rather than face justice
POCOPSON » An accused heroin dealer and his girlfriend were arrested Friday in what authorities described as a murder-for-hire scheme that would have taken a life for $2,000 and an ounce of heroin, according to police.
Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan announced Friday that Christopher Pickard and Latrice Harrington allegedly hired a hitman to kill someone who they believed cooperated with police following Pickard’s arrest on drug charges. Hogan said that Pickard “decided to have somebody killed rather than face justice.”
Pickard, 29, and Harrington, 27, both of State College, Pa., have been charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder, weapons charges and related offenses, according to investigators and the online criminal report.
Pickard was originally arrested on Aug. 3 for heroin dealing charges after police allegedly found 813 baggies of heroin in his car in Charlestown Township. His passenger at that time was released by police while Pickard was remanded to Chester County Prison. Pickard allegedly targeted his passenger for “ratting” him out, as Pickard phrased it, according to the D.A.’s office.
Police said they learned that Pickard wanted to arrange the murder because he suspected that his passenger cooperated with police. However, authorities said that the passenger did not cooperate with police during that investigation. When Pickard allegedly sought a hitman, authorities were able to offer a phone number for a “hitman” to Pickard who was actually an undercover officer.
Pickard then coordinated with Harrington to offer the hitman $2,000 and an ounce of heroin to kill the intended victim, according to the D.A. The criminal report states that Pickard called the hitman on Aug. 13 from Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township, where he was being held on drug charges, and reportedly promised him “an ounce of the dog food,” which authorities said is code for heroin, when he got out of prison. Pickard and Harrington showed the hitman pictures of the victim from their social media sites including Facebook and Snapchat, and told him a good time of day for the murder, according to Hogan. Harrington provided the hitman with a sawed-off shotgun and a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to the report.
The targeted victim was kept safe during the investigation and was not injured, Hogan said. The undercover officer, still posing as the hitman, called Harrington and said that the victim was dead.
“Alright, that’s good news,” Harrington reportedly said, according to a criminal complaint. “Thank you so much for that.”
Harrington reportedly called Pickard at the prison on Tuesday night, according to a criminal complaint, and told him, “That thing is done. You don’t have to worry about somebody anymore.”
Investigators ask that anyone with additional information to contact Chester County Detective Keith Cowdright at 610-344-6866 or the Pennsylvania State Police at 484-250-7720.