A Florida millionaire serving time for molesting two underage girls reportedly tried to hire a hit man to kill the judge in his case as well as the legal team who prosecuted his crimes.
The New York Daily News said that 72-year-old Loomes Wheeler, Jr. was served with an arrest warrant in prison on Wednesday at the Gulf Correctional Institution in Wewahitchka. Wheeler is accused of offering a hit man $95,000 to murder the prosecutor and two detectives who investigated him, the judge who sentenced him and one of this young victims.
A statement from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) said, "Wheeler offered to pay $95,000 for the hits and told an FDLE agent, who he believed was a hitman, he wanted the victims shot to death as soon as possible."
Wheeler was convicted in July of 2013 of molesting two young girls at his horse ranch. Both victims were under the age of 12.
Ordered to serve two life sentences for his crimes, the millionaire sought the help of fellow inmate Richard Morgan, who attempted to locate a killer for hire at Wheeler's behest.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that Wheeler paid Morgan $250 and promised to pay $750 more when the victims were dead "and the house burned."
The man they found to do the murders, however, turned out to be an undercover FDLE agent.
Before his incarceration, Wheeler attempted to evade prosecution by slicing off his court-mandated GPS device, dumping it in the woods and jetting off to the Bahamas. He was apprehended there by DEA agents pursuing a separate investigation.
It's unclear whether Morgan will be charged in the investigation. Wheeler was charged with six counts of solicitation to commit murder.
Watch video about this story, embedded below:
