Soldier: Sgt. offered $30,000 to kill his wife

Soldier: Sgt. offered $30,000 to kill his wife

By Marlon A. Walker - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 6, 2008 21:41:37 EDT

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Fort Bragg soldier repeatedly asked an 18-year-old colleague to kill his wife — also a soldier — and eventually offered $30,000 for the deed to be carried out, the teenager told authorities in police records released Monday.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Army Pfc. Matthew Kvapil told investigators he dressed in black and hid in bushes on Sept. 30 while Sgt. Richard Smith, 26, and his wife, Sgt. Christina Smith, 29, walked near their apartment. When the pair passed his hiding spot, he told investigators, he jumped out and stabbed the woman to death.

Both men appeared in court Monday, charged with one count each of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Superior Court Judge Tal Baggett scheduled probable cause hearings for Oct. 23 for both men. Both will also receive court-appointed attorneys.

Relatives and friends of the defendants rushed past reporters on their way out, declining through a sheriff’s office spokeswoman to comment.

The search warrant affidavit entered in court Monday stated that officers responding to an emergency call the night of the slaying found Richard Smith holding his wife, stabbed and bleeding in the roadway near their Fayetteville home.
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