Ex-model re-indicted in murder-for-hire case
After an appeals court threw out her criminal conviction because of a paperwork error, prosecutors have re-indicted a former model from Pickaway County on charges that she attempted to hire a hitman to kill a couple she viewed as enemies.
Tara Lambert, 35, of Ashville, is due in court Wednesday for her arraignment on two counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder. She is accused of paying a man — who turned out to be an undercover detective — $125 as a down payment in 2015 to kill Kellie Cooke.
Cooke is the mother of two daughters who, at that time, were Lambert’s stepchildren. In the videotaped exchange of the meeting between Lambert and the detective, Lambert also appears to suggest that if Cooke’s husband, Shawn Cooke, was home at the time of what was to be staged as a botched home invasion, the “hitman” could kill him, too.
The Lamberts and the Cookes had at that time been locked in a years-long court battle over visitation rights. Lambert and the girls’ father have since divorced.
Lambert testified at her trial two years ago that she only wanted Kellie Cooke hurt, not dead, even though she told the undercover detective to throw Cooke in a wood chipper. A jury deliberated less than an hour before finding her guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder for trying to have Kellie Cooke killed, but they acquitted her of the charge related to Shawn Cooke.
In February 2016, Pickaway County Judge P. Randall Knece sentenced Lambert to seven years in prison. In June 2017, however, an appeals court overturned her conviction, citing a paperwork error in the initial indictment. Lambert was set free.
Pickaway County Prosecutor Judy Wolford asked the Ohio Supreme Court to take the case and reverse the appellate decision. The high court declined on Jan. 31, so Wolford charged Lambert again. Wolford said she opted to indict on both charges again because she believes the paperwork error the appellate court called “a fatal flaw” applied to both, so it wouldn’t be double jeopardy for Lambert to face it again.
Lambert’s first trial grabbed international headlines and has since been featured in at least one true-crime documentary, mostly because her attorney made her looks and courtroom appearance — tight-fitting dresses and stilettos were her uniform — a part of his defense.
In an interview Lambert gave to “Inside Edition” last year, she blamed her conviction on jurors paying more attention to her than the evidence. “They were worried about my wardrobe rather than what was really going on,” she said of the jury.
She has sued her original attorney, James Kingsley, for providing ineffective counsel. That lawsuit remains unsettled.
This time around, Lambert has hired defense attorney Sam Shamansky of Columbus.
Shamansky said he doesn’t think Lambert could legally be re-indicted on the charge related to Shawn Cooke because she had been acquitted, so he will challenge that on appeal. As to the charge related to Kellie Cooke, Shamansky said they are preparing their defense. And this time, he said, Lambert won’t wear any eyepopping outfits in court.
“Perception is paramount,” he said. “We will work professionally, diligently and ethically in our defense.”
Kellie Cooke said she and her husband had hoped the Ohio Supreme Court would reverse the appeals court so that a second trial wouldn’t be necessary. But she said they have prepared themselves for this repeat. She said knowing someone wanted them dead changed their lives forever, and little things like a stranger’s knock on the door still sets them on edge.
“She put my family through hell,” Cooke said of Lambert. “We just want justice to be done.”