Foley woman becomes 4th arrested in murder-for-hire plot: court documents

Pat O'Donnell
·2 min read
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BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — A Foley woman was arrested on Friday afternoon in connection with a murder-for-hire plot, according to court documents.

Rebecca Elizabeth Murphy, 36, provided information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation from May 3 through May 6 about her alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire scheme, according to FBI Special Agent Jennifer Whitehurst.

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Rebecca Elizabeth Murphy (Photo courtesy of the Baldwin County Jail).
Rebecca Elizabeth Murphy (Photo courtesy of the Baldwin County Jail).

According to the information Whitehurst received from Murphy, three sisters—Sandra Grimes, Judy Owen and Mitzy Smith—attempted to hire Murphy to murder Grimes’ son-in-law.

Whitehurst’s testimony said Grimes told Murphy that her son-in-law allegedly drugged her daughter, forced her to have sex with others, and assaulted her daughter and grandkids. This prompted Grimes, Owen and Smith to kill him.

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Whitehurst’s testimony said the three women paid a man $10,000 to kill the son-in-law, but he ran off with the money, so they turned to Murphy.

Grimes took Murphy to Marrero, Louisiana, to show Murphy where her target lived and to convince her to kill.

According to Whitehurst’s testimony, the three sisters wanted Murphy to inject a lethal dose of heroin into the son-in-law to make the murder appear as an overdose because he reportedly used drugs. Ultimately, Murphy agreed to the scheme but for more money.

Owen and Murphy made another trip to kill the man in Louisiana, but Murphy refused because they wanted her to kill him outside of a local courthouse during the daylight in front of several cameras.

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Smith dropped off a box shortly after the trip to Murphy in Fairhope with a 9mm Phoenix Arms handgun. Murphy said that’s when she knew the three sisters were serious about the murder-for-hire scheme.

Whitehurst’s testimony said Murphy made another trip to Louisiana where she stayed about a week, but did not act on the scheme.

Ultimately, Murphy did not go through with the scheme and did not kill Mina.

Grimes, Owen and Smith were all arrested earlier this month in connection with the scheme.

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However, Murphy was arrested on Friday, May 24, and is charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Grimes, Owen and Smith are charged with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to transfer a firearm to be used to commit a crime of violence.

All four were federally indicted on Wednesday.

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