A federal jury on Monday convicted 70-year-old Michael Grady of orchestrating a deadly murder-for-hire plot in St. Louis County dating back to 2011. Jurors found him guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, aiding and abetting murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Grady now faces a potential life sentence at a June 4 hearing and remains in federal custody while he serves a separate 226-month sentence for an unrelated drug-conspiracy case.
Verdict and what prosecutors say
Prosecutors told the jury that Grady teamed up with Victoria Rena Williams to arrange the killing of Williams’ fiancé, Charles Harris III, so she could cash in on life-insurance policies. They say Grady helped coordinate the meeting that brought the shooter to Harris’ home on Oct. 5, 2011, and later assisted Williams as she tried to collect on the policy. The convictions and those details were reported by First Alert 4.
Insurance payouts and guilty plea
Williams, who prosecutors say was in a relationship with Harris at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty in September to charges tied to the scheme, according to court filings and reporting. Court records and reporting indicate she later received about $224,444 from one policy, wrote a $110,000 cashier’s check payable to Grady’s wife, and collected roughly $175,762 from a second policy that listed her as the beneficiary. Those plea and payout details are described in reporting reviewed by IBTimes.
Sentence exposure and background
Federal records show Grady was previously sentenced to 226 months in prison for his role in helping a violent drug-trafficking conspiracy and that he remains in federal custody on that case. If he is sentenced on the murder-for-hire conviction, the punishment could include life behind bars, with his next court date in the case set for June 4. The earlier federal sentencing is documented in a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release (U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri) and the guilty verdict was reported by First Alert 4.
