Jury Finds Man Guilty of 2011 St. Louis County Murder-For-Hire

ST. LOUIS - A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Monday found a man guilty of conspiring with a woman to have her fiancée killed at his St. Louis County home in 2011.

Jurors convicted Michael Grady, 70, of one count each of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, aiding and abetting murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Evidence and testimony at the trial, which began last Monday, showed that Grady hatched the idea to kill Charles Harris III so that he and Harris' financially struggling fiancée, Victoria Rena Williams, would receive an insurance payout. Grady also hired the person or persons who shot Harris in his home on Langford Drive on Oct. 5, 2011, telling Williams, "I have two young shooters," the trial showed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Grady was at the center of this," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj told jurors Monday.

Williams, 67, pleaded guilty in September to the same three counts and is awaiting sentencing.

Wiliams said that Grady witnessed an argument over money between her and Harris in the summer of 2010 and told her she "shouldn't be going through that." Prompted by Grady, Williams called an insurance company that he recommended and asked if an accidental death policy would pay out in the event of a fatal robbery. On Aug. 27, 2010, Williams started the application process for a $250,000 policy for Harris.

The murder occurred after the pair knew the policy was in effect and after Grady learned a different insurance scheme was not likely to pay out. Harris worked for an alarm company and sold suits out of his home to people he knew or through trusted referrals. Williams told Harris that the shooters were interested in buying suits. She told jurors that after backing out twice, when she tried to back out again, Grady told her that they were too far along, and it could be "bad for you" if she did.

Williams eventually received $224,444 from one life insurance company and then obtained a cashier's check for $110,000 payable to Grady's wife. Williams also received $175,762 from another insurance policy.

A trail of electronic evidence detailed the communications between Williams and Grady while they planned the murder and between Williams and Grady and one of the shooters before and after the murder was carried out, as well as the movements of the shooters and Grady. The shooter or shooters have not been identified. Only Grady knows their identity, Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Boyce told jurors in his opening statement.

Grady is scheduled to be sentenced on June 4 and faces life in prison. He is already serving a 226-month federal prison sentence for aiding a large-scale, violent drug conspiracy by trying to determine who was cooperating with investigators and prosecutors.

The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Donald Boyce, Nino Przulj and Ryan Finlen are prosecuting the case.