Lawyer is sentenced in attempted murder of his wife; his law firm found hit-man research
A Tennessee lawyer was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday after entering a plea to charges he tried to murder his estranged wife.
Lawyer Fred Auston Wortman III of Collierville entered a “best interest” plea, also known as an Alford plea, to charges of attempted first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder, report WMCActionNews5 and MyFoxMemphis. A best interest plea accepts punishment but does not admit guilt. The Memphis Commercial Appeal also has a story.
Wortman was accused of trying to poison his wife with tainted toothpaste, trying to hire a hit man who turned out to be an undercover officer, and then, when in prison, trying to hire an inmate to kill her.
Wortman entered the plea in Fayette County court on Monday and was expected to enter a plea in Shelby County court on Tuesday, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. His Shelby County sentence would run concurrently with the Fayette County sentence.
Colleagues in Wortman’s law firm had found evidence on office computers that he was researching hiring a hit man and paying him with Bitcoins, according to the Commercial Appeal.
Authorities told Wortman and his estranged wife in February that he was under suspicion based on the computer research, prompting his wife to recall that she had become sick from tainted toothpaste. Testing found the toothpaste contained a plant-based poison called Aconitum. Wortman was arrested in June for allegedly trying to hire the hit man who turned out to be an undercover agent.
