SEOUL — The U.S. military is working with civilian law enforcement officials to transfer a soldier from South Korea to the United States after a federal jury indicted him and two women for allegedly plotting to murder his wife.
Spc. Michael Andrew Crawford, working with the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Suwon Air Base, is still with his unit and is restricted to base, according to 8th Army officials. He is not being held in pretrial confinement.
Crawford, Tonia Rene Mullins and Regina Hercules were charged by the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Oklahoma with "Conspiracy and Use of Interstate Commerce Facilities in the Commission of Murder-For-Hire," according to a Sept. 26 U.S. Department of Justice news release.
In the release, U.S. Attorney Sheldon J. Sperling said the charges stemmed from a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Sperling said the Ardmore Police Department learned Mullins, 32, was seeking a hit man to kill Crawford’s wife.
Mullins and Crawford intended to use his wife’s $250,000 life insurance policy to purchase a home together, according to the release.
During the investigation, Sperling said in the release, "it became evident that Michael Crawford’s aunt, Regina Hercules was also involved in the scheme to kill the victim."
An undercover agent met with Mullins and Hercules on Sept. 12 and "negotiated a price of $5,000 for killing the victim," the release said.
Mullins and Hercules "provided statements to the FBI acknowledging their involvement in the scheme and implicating Crawford," the release said.
Mullins pleaded guilty to conspiracy and murder-for-hire earlier this month, according to the Associated Press.
The AP also reported that Hercules, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and murder-for-hire.
Crawford also faces Oklahoma state charges of "solicitation for murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder," AP reported.
