Basehor man sentenced to 8 years in prison for murder-for-hire scheme

A 38-year-old Basehor man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to hire someone to kill his wife, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Lee D. Smith pleaded guilty in federal court in October and was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison without parole.

In May, Smith contacted, then agreed to pay, a man — identified in court documents as a confidential informant — $1,800 to murder Smith’s wife.

The man Smith tried to hire for the murder then contacted Kansas City, Mo., police.

At the instructions of police, the man Smith tried to hire called Smith on May 11 and told him that he had abducted both his wife and daughter. Smith told the man to kill his wife but release his daughter, and the man called back later to say he had done it. He demanded $1,800 in payment, according to prosecutors.

Smith cashed a check for $1,600 in preparation to pay the man, but was called to a Kansas City police station for news about his wife.

When Smith arrived at the police station, he was arrested.