Man gets life in prison for plotting 2013 murder
A Columbia man was sentenced to life in prison without parole, after he was convicted of plotting the death of Brian Daniels in April 2014.
On Monday a judge denied a request for a new trial by James Thompson. He was found guilty in January for hiring a hitman to kill Daniels inside his home on Cimarron Drive in south Columbia.
Thompson was a caretaker for Daniels, who had won a settlement worth nearly $5 million after he was badly injured in a 2005 apartment fire.
Police say Thompson hired Casey Lewis to shoot Daniels, so he could inherit Daniels’ estate. Thompson was accused of forging Daniels’ will. Lewis was promised $10,000, a gun and a car.
