11. The Hitman (Frank Howard)

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Because you know what?

Life is all about timing.

The timing is right, Carpe D, and you must seize the moment.

Too many times you hear stories about opportunities show up, moments that they could have taken advantage, and what happened?

They didn't.

And what happens to the opportunity?

Gone.

Make sure you have the intestinal fortitude to handle the risk.

But discipline is do what needs to be done when it needs to be done without taking no for an answer from anyone, especially from yourself.

Because as an entrepreneur, if you don't have persistence, you will fail.

Be committed.

There's an old expression that says, once you commit, then all providence moves to support that commitment.

Be persistent.

I can get everything in this world that I want if I'm willing to help enough other people get exactly what they want first.

That voice belongs to Jeffrey Locker.

He was a 52-year-old multi-millionaire, motivational speaker, author, and business coach, who on July 16, 2009, was found stabbed to death in his car in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, miles away from where he lived.

His hands were tied behind his back, and there were strangle marks on his throat, and his debit card was missing.

Five days after the murder, police arrested Kenneth Miner, a 36-year-old black man and father of two, with a long history of drug arrests and misdemeanors.

He had been caught on surveillance video accessing Jeffrey Locker's car and withdrawing money from multiple ATMs using the victim's debit card.

Once under arrest, Kenneth Miner admitted to stabbing Locker only because that's what Locker had paid him to do.

Miner said Jeffrey Locker had approached him the night of the stabbing and offered him money to help stage his death.

He was adamant that he only assisted Locker with suicide, causing the New York media to dub him the East Harlem Kavorkian, a reference to the doctor who stood trial for voluntary euthanasia in 1999.

Jeffrey Locker found himself in incredible debt as a victim of a Ponzi scheme, and he was worried about his family's future.

An investigation revealed that not long before his death, Locker had made changes to his life insurance policy and had made calls to several funeral homes, giving possible credence to Miner's claim of assisted suicide.

According to Kenneth Miner, Locker insisted that his death must appear as a botched robbery so that his family would receive $18 million in life insurance benefits.

And life insurance doesn't pay out for suicides.

Miner told police that he held the knife against the steering wheel.

as Jeffrey Locker thrusted forward, puncturing himself seven times.

Kenneth Minor then exited the vehicle with payment in hand, leaving Locker behind to bleed to death inside of his car.

On trial for second-degree murder and facing life in prison, Kenneth Minor addressed the court.

First, I would like to say that

my condolences to the Locker family because a loss is a loss.

I've wanted nothing but a resolution for this case since the beginning.

My life ended that night.

Because of the media, because I'm black, and Mr.

Locker is white.

The district attorney's office

didn't want to give me a resolution.

I didn't want for this case to turn out the way that it did.

I didn't go searching for anyone that night to hurt anyone.

I would like to thank my wife for being a rock and having more faith than one person should have because

I knew how this case was going to turn out from the beginning.

I knew I was going to be prosecuted to the limit, even though I've been at the back of this same courtroom right here and seen murderers walk out of here with eight, ten years.

My family has been here every day of this trial.

That family has it.

But I didn't wish this on any of them.

At the end of this trial, I was called a Jack the Ripper.

And I had to sit, I have not slept in two years.

Only two people in the world know what happened that night.

And one of them is not here no more.

But he did not want this for me

for me to lose the rest of my life

I was gonna pay for the part that I played in this situation

and I would be the first to stand up as a man and take responsibility

I didn't at first because nobody would believe me and they didn't believe me Nobody but my lawyer.

Nobody believed me, not even the police.

So I tell him anything, but I told him anyway.

In the end, I gotta explain this because I'm not estranged from my family.

I gotta explain this to my kids, why they won't see me for 25 years.

In the end,

Mr.

Lop is where he wanted to be.

I can't take that back now.

But I'm no animal and I ain't got no malice in my heart.

And I had to sit through two weeks of people calling me an animal

when this was never about

that.

This was always about money.

In the end, it's about money

and race.

Because if it wasn't, if I wasn't a black man and I wasn't a white man,

this case would have been resolved two years ago.

Two years ago.

In the end, a life is a life.

Now, I ask for forgiveness.

And hopefully, one day I will be forgived.

Thank you.

Kenneth Minor was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Jeffrey Locker.

It was later reduced to 12 years after a pill.

Jeffrey Locker's family only received a fraction of the life insurance benefits that he had arranged for them.

Most of the policies were voided because it was discovered that Locker had substantially overstated his annual income as $800,000 a year, when in reality he was making about $225,000 a year.

And he owed enormous amounts to creditors.

When white-collar crime crosses paths with violent crime, it's usually not an impulsive act or a crime of passion.

Usually it's a calculated move, the means to an end.

Financial pressure can lead to desperation, and desperation can influence people to take desperate measures.

Desperation can also lead one to seek assistance in the unlikeliest places.

For Jeffrey Locker, a millionaire motivational speaker, it was a down-and-out man from Harlem who couldn't turn down access to a rich man's piggy bank.

And for a man in Texas named Frank Howard, it was a family of meth heads from East Texas looking for an easy payday.

A desperate man living a double life siphons funds from his employer in order to pay some of the most incompetent criminals ever to murder his wife on this episode of Swindled.

They bribed government officials to hide accounting clear violations of decades they law earlier in the last half millions of taxpayer dollars that were wasted.

Dummied up its books and records to hide.

By falsifying its coats and records.

Support for swindled comes from Simply Safe.

For the longest time, I thought home security meant an alarm going off after someone broke in.

But if the alarm is already blaring, it's too late.

The damage is done.

That's a reactive approach, and it leaves you with that awful feeling of violation even if the intruder runs away.

That's why I switched to Simply Safe.

They've completely changed the game with Active Guard outdoor protection designed to stop crime before it starts.

Their smart, AI-powered cameras don't just detect motion.

They can tell you when there's a person lurking on your property.

That instantly alerts SimplySafe's professional monitoring agents in real time.

And here's the game changer.

The agents can actually intervene while the intruder is still outside.

Talk to them through two-way audio, hit them with a loud siren and spotlight, and call 911 if needed.

It's proactive security, and that's real security.

I trust SimplySafe because there are no long-term contracts, no hidden fees, and a 60-day money-back guarantee.

They've been named best home security systems by U.S.

News and World Report for five years in a row.

And I can see why.

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Frank and Nancy Howard met at a church in San Marcus, Texas in the early 1980s.

The couple were married in 1983 by Frank's Baptist father and soon after moved into a two-story brick house on Blue Bonnet Way in Carrollton, Texas, an affluent suburb of Dallas, to start a family.

The Howard family were extremely close, active, and well-liked in their community.

They attended church frequently.

They hosted youth groups, donated generously, and sang in the church choir.

Ashley, the oldest of Frank and Nancy's three children, has joked that her family has been compared to the wholesome Cleaver family from the 1950s sitcom Leave It to Beaver.

Frank supported the family with his career as an accountant.

He was a partner in an accounting firm that boasted more than 500 clients and Nancy, a stay-at-home mother, was actively involved in the children's educations and extracurricular activities.

For decades, life was picture-perfect for the couple.

They watched as each one of their children grew up healthy and happy before leaving the nest one by one to attend college, with the youngest child leaving in 2009.

It was around this time that Frank received the job opportunity of a lifetime.

Richard Raleigh, a Dallas-area businessman who made a fortune on government contracts, was looking to replace his recently deceased long-time accountant.

More specifically, Raleigh was looking for someone who could help bring $30 million overseas from Kuwait to the United States.

Frank Howard was the man for the job, so Raleigh offered Frank the chief financial officer role at his company, a position that came with a generous salary, a new office space, and the use of Rayleigh's private jet.

Frank Howard quickly accepted the offer.

One of the downsides, perhaps the only downside of Frank's new position, is that it would require frequent travel.

Frank would be spending long periods of time away from home in places like California, Florida, Europe, and Kuwait.

And with the kids away at college, for the first time in 30 years, his wife Nancy would be alone and vulnerable.

August 18th, 2012, started out as an ordinary weekend day for Nancy.

She hosted a morning tea drinking event at the church with her friends.

During the day, she performed some chores around the house and relaxed.

Frank was out of town on business near Lake Tahoe in Nevada.

so she had the whole house to herself.

In the evening, Nancy returned to the church to attend the baptismal service of a family friend, and on the way home, at about 7.30, she stopped by a Mexican fast-food drive-thru near her house to pick up dinner.

She arrived at her house and pulled into the garage, just as she had a million times before.

She exited her vehicle, carrying her purse and the bag of food.

As she was approaching the door to the house, someone grabbed her neck from behind.

Give me your purse, she heard a voice say.

Nancy wrestled away from the grip and turned to face her attacker, only to find a gun pointed in her face.

Give me your purse, the man repeated.

Nancy was obviously shocked and still trying to process the situation when she handed her assailant the bag of tacos instead.

She quickly realized her mistake and corrected herself by shoving her purse towards the man.

The man snatched the purse from her hands, raised this gun, and shot her in the face.

Nancy woke up on the floor of her garage, and it took a few seconds before she realized she had been shot.

She claims to have heard the voice of God demanding her to get up.

Bleeding profusely, she struggled to her hands and knees and crawled towards her car where she could use her roadside assistance service to call for help.

When she reached the car, she realized that her keys were in her purse, and the service wouldn't work without them.

Nancy then somehow managed to stand on her feet and make her way inside of her house.

She stumbled down the hallway, pausing briefly to inspect her unrecognizable face in a mirror on the wall before continuing her quest to reach a phone.

When she did, she called 911.

Carol 2911, let's see, says the emergency.

Tell me exactly what happened.

I'm doing

my crying.

I'm going to get a girl.

And I'll be all curious.

Shot me.

Please help me.

Yes, ma'am.

I've already got help.

Started your wake down.

Hang up and I'm going to get some questions answered from you, okay?

How many people was it?

It's just logged in.

Oh, where?

Did you see him?

Uh, yeah.

Was he white, black, and standing?

He was light at least.

Dark hair.

How old?

I don't know.

Mid to late 20s, 30s.

And what cloth shirt was he wearing?

I don't know.

He was wearing a black cap.

Oh,

yes, ma'am.

They're already on the way.

Just you stay on the phone with me, okay?

I'm trying with you.

Yeah, I know.

I can't imagine how bad it hurts, but I just want you to stay on the phone.

Do you know, did he pull up in a car?

Did he what?

Did he pull up in a car or did he run away?

I don't know.

I'm never sorry, I guess it.

Okay.

Frank Howard was in a casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, when he received a call from his oldest daughter telling him that his wife had been shot.

He collapsed on the ground, almost inconsolable.

He needed to get home immediately, so he phoned his boss to see if he could use the private jet, but it was unavailable at the time.

The only flights to Dallas weren't until the following morning, and they were already fully booked.

Desperate to get home, Frank drove four hours to San Jose to catch the first flight of the morning to Dallas.

When he landed, Frank drove straight to the hospital.

He found his wife alive, but in a coma.

The bullet had entered her head right above her left eye, penetrating her sinus cavity and right lung.

She was on a breathing tube, but fortunately, there didn't seem to be any major brain damage.

Miraculously, Nancy was walking and talking in only a few days, with Frank by her side the entire time.

Her injuries required multiple reconstructive surgeries and extensive rehabilitation.

She lost her left eye, her sense of smell, and most of her sense of taste.

And she had nerve damage in one of her arms.

But she was alive, reaffirming her faith in God.

On the surface, this incident seemed like an aggravated robbery gone wrong.

However, Carrollton police found Nancy's purse inside a dumpster a few blocks away from where she was shot, with her wallet still full of cash and credit cards.

Authorities began to wonder if this was a simple robbery case, after all.

As Nancy began her recovery, Carrollton police began their investigation.

They spoke with Frank, hoping that maybe he could help figure out who did this to his wife.

Can you update me on her condition, what the doctors doctors have said?

Yes.

Actually very, I mean it sounds bad when you say somebody's shot in it, but actually very, very good.

No brain damage, no,

you don't none of that.

She'll still lose her left eye, but

from there it will be

cosmetic stuff.

What I know about her, it doesn't seem like she would have many problems with anybody.

Oh, no, absolutely not.

Absolutely not.

Frank wondered if Nancy's charitable nature had finally gotten her into trouble.

It wouldn't have been the first time that Nancy had gone out of her way to help a random stranger.

Nancy can be

real

giving and

open.

Somebody came to the door and they just needed money to get a hotel room because their car broke down.

They came to the to your house?

To the house, yeah, at the front front door and uh and nancy told him uh i mean she's just so on good heart i mean she's just she just said uh

that uh

that she would try to help him find the hotel room

frank was willing to do anything to find justice for his wife including letting the police analyze his cell phone just to clear his name on his phone the police didn't find anything linking frank howard to the attempted murder of his wife But what they did find shocked them.

Based on his text messages, photos, and phone calls, it was clear that Frank Howard, a quintessential family man and man of faith, was cheating on his wife with a woman named Suzanne Leontiff.

Frank and Suzanne met at a casino in Lake Tahoe about three years earlier when Frank was in town for business.

Suzanne was a dental hygienist from Santa Cruz, California with two daughters of her own.

and she had recently separated from her ex-husband.

Suzanne knew Frank was married, but he had expressed unhappiness in his marriage and promised that a divorce was on the horizon.

Frank and Suzanne fell in love, and they spent as much time and money together as possible.

Within the first year of meeting, Frank was spoiling Suzanne with extravagant gifts.

He bought a house for Suzanne in Santa Cruz for $900,000 cash.

He also purchased a $400,000 condo for himself in Lake Tahoe, where the couple would frequently meet up.

There were numerous trips and vacations, including a week-long getaway to the Bahamas.

Frank even paid Suzanne's oldest daughter's college tuition, and he cut Suzanne a check for half a million dollars just for spending money.

Even though they lived thousands of miles apart, Frank and Suzanne were almost inseparable for over three years.

In fact, Frank was with his mistress in Lake Tahoe the night that his wife Nancy was shot.

Suzanne was actually the one who drove Frank to the San Jose airport.

Little did she know that that was the last time she would ever see him.

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Now that the police had discovered his affair, it was time for Frank to face his family.

He wanted to be the one to disclose his infidelity to his wife and children before anyone else could.

Nancy, who was still in the hospital at this time, was heartbroken.

Frank knew he had messed up, but he maintained that the affair had nothing to do with the shooting of his wife.

Nancy believed her husband, but filed for a divorce anyway.

She received an $800,000 settlement and $200 a month in alimony.

Meanwhile, Carrollton police continued their investigation.

They accessed surveillance footage of Nancy leaving the church parking lot on the night she was shot.

As her car pulled pulled out of the church parking lot, they noticed the silver Nissan following closely behind.

The detectives received another lead from a police report filed about a routine traffic stop that took place about a month before the shooting.

A white Honda Civic driven by two teenagers from East Texas had been stopped when Carrollton police noticed it aimlessly circling the neighborhood where Frank and Nancy's house was located.

The driver of the vehicle, 19-year-old Dustin Hirams, and his passenger Jason Rendine, were high on crystal meth and couldn't keep their story straight.

So, how long have you been in Carrollton tonight?

I've been trying to find my mother's house for about

two, three, four hours.

Okay.

The reason I asked is because I saw you guys earlier, and I see you again, and now it's

circles and circles and circles.

You step out of the car just for a second.

I want to talk to you a little bit.

Hirams initially told the police officer that he was in Carrollton to pick up money from his uncle.

Moments later, he said he was in town looking for his stepfather's house before finally telling the officer that he was looking for a family friend named John.

Tell me who you were visiting here because now I'm confused.

You said uncle and then you just said it was.

Okay.

We always called him John.

That was it.

So John's a friend of the family.

Yes, basically.

Dustin Hirams and his friend were taken to the police station and while in custody, He changed his story yet again.

This time, he made a startling confession that he traveled to Carrollton because a man had hired him to kill his wife.

At the time, police chalked it up to the crazy ramblings of a meth addict.

They followed up on his statement anyway, but weren't able to validate his claims.

Hirams and Rendine were released from jail the following day.

Investigators weren't sure if the Dustin Hirams traffic stop was related to the shooting of Nancy Howard.

They had nothing connecting the two incidents other than circumstance.

But the missing piece would soon be found in the form of a man named Billy Earl Johnson, a man who had quite the reputation.

I got a reputation being a badass.

I mean, I ain't, everybody's claimed me to be tough and bad.

I don't claim to be tough and bad.

I'm mean.

I'm going to hurt you.

If you jump on me, I'm going to hurt you.

Billy Earl Johnson was a 50-year-old career criminal from East Texas who had an affinity for methamphetamines and motorcycles.

He had spent over a quarter of his life in and out of jail.

In fact, he was behind bars on the night of the shooting, serving time for a large drug bust.

Billy Earl Johnson did not shoot Nancy Howard, but he knew who did, and he offered to tell police everything if they were willing to make a deal.

49 years old.

I've done visiting Penn total 15 years.

I got grandkids and I want to spend the rest of my life with them.

I want to be free and I want out this weekend.

I got the big A's in the hole and I got the ball at my court on this.

If y'all want this murder, this attempted murder solved, y'all need to work with me because I ain't playing.

Y'all want it, I'll give it to you in a f ⁇ golden basket.

I'm not giving up nothing until I got something solid on my end.

I'll die with it.

I don't think this woman deserves what happened.

No, she sure didn't.

But if...

And she deserves a little bit of justice.

Yep, and she'll get it.

But

I want my back scratched too.

Maybe not from you.

I want my back scratched too.

Investigators informed Billy that in order to make a deal, he would have to give them at least a little information to work with.

Billy claimed that not only did he know how the shooting went down, he knew who ordered the hit.

It was a man named John.

Was it the same John that Dustin Hirams was looking for when he was pulled over?

Probably, because Dustin Hirams was the son of Billy Earl Johnson's girlfriend, Stacey Serenko.

Billy further legitimized his story with additional details that only someone who was involved would know.

He told investigators the type and color of Nancy Howard's car, and from memory, he provided a phone number for the man he knew as John.

Billy told authorities that this John character, whom he had never met before, had called him three years prior in 2009, offering a large sum of money in exchange for murdering his wife.

I was laying on the couch and the phone rang.

He just said, You don't know me, told me his name, said I,

you know, don't know you, but I was caught word that you might be the one to do a job for me.

He wanted it done accidentally so it wouldn't come on him.

Like a car jack and purse snatching.

How many conversations have you had with John regarding this being done?

Numbers.

More than 10?

Yeah.

More than 20?

50, 60.

John had apparently obtained Billy's phone number from a mutual acquaintance.

Billy agreed to meet John at a western ware store in Mesquite, Texas, even though he had no intentions of killing John's wife.

I'm not going to go kill nobody.

His plan was to string out the situation for as long as possible, to take as much money as possible, and run.

Billy was a criminal, after all.

John pulled up in a gray Lexus, and Billy opened the passenger passenger door and climbed inside.

John instructed Billy to make it look like an accident and handed him a brown envelope that contained $60,000 in cash and a photograph of the woman he was supposed to kill.

The woman in the photo was Nancy Howard, and John's full name was John Franklin Howard.

Billy returned home to East Texas with the 60 grand burning hole in his pocket.

He bought booze for his friends and went on a couple of shopping sprees, but he spent most of of the money on drugs, and it wasn't long before the drugs landed Billy in jail again.

He bonded out two days later, but the police had confiscated what was left of his cash.

Finding himself broke again, Billy called John.

John agreed to another meeting at a Texaco gas station this time.

Billy arrived at the gas station with his girlfriend Stacey, who snuck a cell phone photo of John sitting in his Lexus.

She sent the photo to her mother as insurance, just in case the deal went sour.

John handed Billy another $35,000, and Billy returned home and spent it the exact same way he had spent the first $60,000 on booze and drugs.

And before long, Billy was in jail again.

When Billy Earl Johnson was released from jail this time, he enlisted some help.

His old friend and former bodyguard Charlie Louderman rode with Billy to pick up some more cash.

John brainstormed different methods methods for the murder with the two men.

He suggested Billy and Charlie make it look like a home burglary.

He told them about $40,000 worth of jewelry in the house.

He also told them that once the deed was done, to set the house on fire.

Another one of John's ideas included following Nancy to one of her regular lunch outings with her friends.

He suggested spraying the entire group of women with bullets, but making sure Nancy received a little extra attention.

Once Charlie Louderman found out that the target was a woman, he refused any involvement.

Yeah, I heard everybody else heard about it.

Did he really?

Did he forget that?

Did you want to do it?

Yeah, I want the truth.

You're right.

That

A year passed, and Billy Earl Johnson had not upheld his end of the deal with John Franklin Howard.

On the other hand, John had more than lived up to his end of the bargain.

Over a two-year period, it is estimated that John had given more than $750,000 to Billy Earl Johnson to kill his wife.

Billy had purchased new cars and motorcycles, including an $80,000 chopper, that he had dragged behind his truck in a fit of rage.

He bought a boat and a camper, a riding lawnmower, an assortment of high-powered weapons, and of course, copious amounts of drugs.

Billy was living well, and much to John's chagrin, so was his wife.

As John's frustrations with Billy continued to mount, so did the charges on Billy's rap sheet.

He was arrested again, along with his girlfriend Stacey, carrying enough meth to receive a felony trafficking charge.

With no one else to turn to, Billy called John from jail, hoping that he would bail him out again.

Hey,

hello?

Hey, what's going on, man?

I don't know much, man.

What's that?

Hey, I can get out of here.

It's going to take about a month to get out of here, but I need some money.

Well, that's part of my problem.

I'm still cut off from everything I've got going on.

So, because

I mean, what happened to Michael?

I gave him a bunch of money.

How much did you give him?

I don't even know anymore.

It's been so long.

Do you give him 20?

At least.

See,

I just wrote Stacey a letter and told her that he,

in other words, he probably

well, and that's what I'm saying, is that so?

I mean,

that keeps happening.

So that's why I got that and left.

That's a problem.

I gave him that to come get you out.

And I hadn't seen or heard from him.

So what is that?

Obviously, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

That's what I'm saying.

Where did all that money go?

He's got it all.

I talked to my uncle on the phone while I was in Vandana County, and he said that he had enough money to buy a good use truck and money left over.

I said, well, I need some money.

And he said, I don't have a problem with that.

And I ain't heard nothing from him on nothing.

I haven't either because that's what, because I told him, I said, this is the last I got.

And he said, he'd go take care of it.

He'd take care of everything.

And I have heard absolutely nothing from him since.

So that's my problem.

I got nothing left.

Yeah, I'll, nothing?

No, I gave him everything.

There ain't nothing you can do.

I gave him everything.

The Michael mentioned in the phone call is Michael Speck, Billy Johnson's nephew.

After seeing the lavish lifestyle that his uncle was living, Michael moved to Texas to get in on the action.

John met Michael Speck through Billy and Stacy.

Michael and Dustin Hirams, the kid who was pulled over in the Howards neighborhood, had tagged along with Billy and Stacy to one of their meetings with John.

John wanted Michael to follow Nancy to San Marcus, the town where the couple met, and take her out.

In return, Michael would receive the $100,000 life insurance payout for Nancy's life, as well as $500 a week for the rest of his life.

But Billy and Stacy's arrest derailed the plan before it ever materialized.

At this point, John was getting desperate, throwing money at whoever promised to get the job done.

Dustin Hirams received $24,000 from John on the 4th of July to track down Nancy at a convention she was attending and beat her to death with a baseball bat.

Dustin didn't deliver and blew the $24,000 in two weeks, spending most of it on, you guessed it, crystal meth.

Dustin called John directly, requesting more money, and John reluctantly agreed, but he didn't bother meeting up with him.

Instead, John told Dustin that he would leave some cash at property that he owned in Carrollton.

The property that Dustin and his friend Jason Rendine were looking for when they were pulled over that night.

As more time passed, more people hopped on the money train, including Jason Rendine and his wife, who had become wise to the plot and began extorting John with threats of blowing his cover.

In a turn of events, John responded by offering Rendine and his wife a $50,000 finders fee if they could connect him with someone who would actually murder his wife.

Meanwhile, Michael Speck was inviting his former cellmate, Michael Lawrence, to travel to Texas from California.

Lawrence made the trip with his fiancée Misty Ford, who thought the purpose of the trip was for Lawrence to ask Speck to be his best man for their wedding.

Not quite.

On August 18, 2012, the two Michaels hopped in a silver Nissan and headed to Dallas to do some sightseeing and perform some odd jobs for some extra cash.

When they returned later that night, around midnight, Misty could tell something was different about her future husband.

Michael Lawrence was unusually quiet and drinking heavily.

When they were alone in the bedroom, Michael Lawrence confessed to Misty that he had killed someone.

A few months later, Misty broke off her engagement with Lawrence, but never went to the police for fear of meeting the same fate.

Now that investigators had pieced together the entire story, multiple arrests were made, including Frank Howard.

A murder for hire, a case that reads like a movie script.

According to court documents, John Franklin Howard paid Billy Johnson and Dustin Hirams more than $100,000 to kill his wife Nancy.

A plan to get rid of her.

A plan investigators say was hatched three years ago.

The arrest affidavit shows Howard initially paid $85,000 in early 2009 for the job.

On August 4th of this year, the alleged plan was set in motion.

Irams claims that Howard in a meeting told him he wanted Nancy killed while she was at the Galera Hotel.

The accusations against Frank Howard were shocking.

This is someone who was adored by his friends and his family.

Even Nancy Howard insisted that there had been some kind of mistake.

Frank's children stuck by their father as as well, pointing to a past polygraph test as proof of their father's innocence.

The Howard children were convinced that the only explanation was that their father had been blackmailed.

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Frank Howard's trial began in August 2014.

Dozens of witnesses took the stand to testify, including Billy Earl Johnson, who described the first phone call he received from Frank and the millions of dollars he accepted from him.

Stacey Serenko provided the photograph of John that she had taken when she rode along with Billy to meet him.

Charlie Louderman, Dustin Hirams, and Jason Rendine each described their interactions with the man named John.

Misty Ford retold the story of how her ex-fiancé Michael Lawrence confessed to shooting Nancy on August 18, 2012.

And Nancy Howard discussed her failing marriage and painful rehabilitation.

Suzanne Leontiff was also called to the stand to discuss the three-year affair she had with Frank.

Suzanne had no knowledge of Frank's intentions, but the prosecution claims Frank Howard was motivated to have his wife murdered so that he and Suzanne could finally spend their life together.

Well, yeah, court just officially went into recess ending week one of testimony here, and it ended with the wife that investigators believe Howard tried to get rid of, and the woman, the other woman, rather, they say might have been partially the reason for it.

Frank Howard's defense found this theory ridiculous and pointed to the divorce of his first wife as proof that such extreme measures were unnecessary to separate him from his wife.

Where in the world is any evidence been told you that divorce is unacceptable, Mr.

Howard?

He's already had a divorce.

He's been married once.

Look at the evidence and ask yourself if that's what that means.

But a surprise witness shed some light as to why Frank Howard might be worried about divorcing his wife.

A wealthy Texas businessman charged with hiring hitmen to kill his own wife.

Now his employer is saying he actually funneled more than $100,000 of the company's money to those would-be killers and that millions more remain unaccounted for.

Richard Raleigh, the owner of the company that Frank Howard worked for, testified that Frank had embezzled more than $30 million from him over a three-year period.

Frank was creating phony entries for office supplies into Raleigh's accounting records to siphon money into four shadow companies.

Past clients of Frank's came forward with accusations that he had stolen money from them as well.

According to the prosecution, Frank knew that the divorce proceedings could potentially uncover his financial crimes.

Instead of taking that chance, Frank Howard took drastic measures to have Nancy removed from the picture completely.

He had been living a double life with Suzanne funded with other people's money.

Frank's financial crimes might also explain why he was so loose and easy with the cash he handed over to Billy, Dustin, and Michael.

It was never legitimately his in the first place.

After a three-week trial, the prosecution rested their case.

The jury deliberated for approximately two hours and returned with a verdict.

We, the jury, find the defendant, John Howard, guilty of the offense of attempted capital murder as alleged in the indictment.

John Franklin Howard was sentenced to life in prison.

He is eligible for parole in 30 years.

His children, who had begged for leniency for their father during the sentencing phase of the trial, stormed out of the courtroom without saying goodbye to their mother.

Richard Raleigh sued Frank Howard for the embezzled money.

An arbitration panel awarded Rayleigh $8.5 million, which included $6.7 million of stolen funds, plus $650,000 in punitive damages and $1.1 million in interest.

Raleigh also sued the First Baptist Church of Carrollton that Frank Howard attended, claiming that more than $200,000 donated to the church by Frank was stolen from his company.

Michael Lee Lawrence, the man who shot Nancy Howard, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Nancy Howard continues to rebuild her life in Carrollton.

She does part-time nanny work for friends and still sings in the church choir.

Her relationship with her children is strained as they still maintain that their father is innocent.

Nancy's faith has allowed her to forgive Frank Howard for what he did.

She is able to separate the man she was married to for over 30 years from the man who hired a hitman to kill her.

She claims that early in the marriage, Frank claimed that his downfall was girls, green, and glory.

During his trial, she referenced the statement by telling Frank that those things had finally caught up to him.

Swindled is written, researched, produced, and hosted by me, a concerned citizen.

For more information about the show, check out swindledpodcast.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Swindled Podcast.

Most of the music in this episode was written and performed by Ethan Helfrich, aka Rescue Sleeping Giant.

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