Crime Time

Police say son tried to hire hit man to kill his parents

Saying her son had "never done anything like this before," a mother tearfully talked about her son who has been accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill her and her husband, according to Channel 4 in Kansas City, Mo.

Jacob Jett, 18, and Joseph Garcia, 17, have been charged with second-degree attempted murder and armed criminal action. Police say they tried to get a hit man to kill Jett's parents, Richard Parnell, 53, and Robin Parnell, 48.

"It came out of nowhere," Robyn Parnell is quoted as saying tearfully during a telephone conversation. "He was a very good child. He's never done anything like this before."

-- Lance Murray

Hit man tries 4 times to kill couple, but fails each time

The "hit" was on. Pulling it off proved impossible for the hit man.

Police in Tampa, Fla., have arrested a man who admits he tried four times to kill the same couple without success. Someone hired him because the couple owed a debt that they refused to pay, police say.

The first try was in 2006 when the hit man showed up at the couple's front door dressed as a deliveryman, but he was foiled when the intended victim summoned a neighbor.

Writer Elaine Silvestrini of The Tampa Tribune tell us the story of the hapless hit man in this report.

-- Lance Murray

A plot with a bite

  It's a mixture of gambling and herpitology. Well, sort of. Two Colorado men are in custody accused of hatching a murder plot that would have involved rattlesnake hitmen -- all to collect a gambling debt, police said.

-- Lance Murray

--Star-Telegram file photo