Sandra Grimes plotted the murder of her son-in-law with the help of her sisters Mitzy Smith and Judy Owen.
Three sisters are heading to federal prison for their roles in a murder-for-hire plot.
Sandra Grimes was sentenced to 70 months in prison after admitting she plotted to kill her son-in-law during a contentious custody battle between him and her daughter.
Her two sisters, Judy Owen and Mitzy Smith, were also sentenced for their roles in trying to help Grimes carry out the murder.
Their plot was foiled when the woman they hired to carry out the murder went to the FBI.
It all began back in February 2024 when the three women approached Rebecca Murphy and asked her to kill Raul Mina, the husband of Grimes’ daughter Irma Nicole Bauer, according to the probable cause affidavit, which was obtained by PEOPLE.
At the time, Murphy said Owen helped her pay a medical bill for her sick dog. Then Owen “stated because she paid the bill, then Murphy had to kill Mina,” the affidavit alleges.
Murphy says she then drove 200 miles with Owen and Grimes to Louisiana just so that they could drive by Mina’s home before returning to Alabama, per the affidavit.
The affidavit says that during this trip, the women told Murphy their first attempt to hire a hitman failed when the man they paid $10,000 to ran off with the money.
Murphy was told that she would need to inject Mina with a fatal dose of heroin so that he would appear to be the victim of an accidental overdose, according to the affidavit.
The women gave Murphy the money needed to purchase the heroin to kill Mina, and a week later, she returned to Louisiana with Owen, according to the affidavit.
Murphy ultimately backed out after learning Grimes wanted her to kill Mina outside the courthouse, in broad daylight after a custody hearing — so the women returned to Alabama.
A few days later, Murphy said she was given an unregistered gun.
Murphy then went back to Louisiana for a third time and brought along her girlfriend Jessica Montgomery. Because Murphy is a felon and cannot own a firearm, Montgomery was tasked with purchasing bullets for the gun, says the affidavit.
Murphy continued to collect money from the sisters while also delaying the murder, and the relationship between her and the sisters grew increasingly hostile, according to the affidavit.
The four women stopped speaking when Murphy refused to carry out the murder or return their money.
A few months later, Murphy shared the details of the plot with FBI agents, and the three sisters, Murphy and Murphy’s girlfriend were all charged for their roles in the plot.
Grimes struck a deal with prosecutors in October, entering a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire and transfer of a firearm to be used to commit a felony.
Owen and Smith opted to take their cases to trial, and in January both women were found guilty on multiple charges. Owen will now serve 120 months in prison while Smith was sentenced to time served.
Murphy and her girlfriend Jessica Montgomery were also each sentenced to five years in prison earlier this year. Montgomery was sentenced for purchasing ammunition for a known felon and Murphy for her role in the plot.