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Two of three plotters plead guilty in murder attempt

Posted at 1:25 pm September 10, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Two people accused of conspiring to kill an elderly man pleaded guilty in an Anderson County courtroom on Monday.

David Lee Suddeth, 44, and Dorothy Roxanne McFarland, 53, both pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, attempted aggravated arson, attempted aggravated kidnapping, and theft under $500. In exchange for those pleas, each was sentenced to nine years behind bars.

A third person, the alleged mastermind of the plot, 50-year-old Randolph Lane, is expected to enter a plea in this case on Wednesday. The trio was accused of plotting to kill then-73-year-old Luther Byrge—with whom they were all living—in January of 2012. Their plan was to lock Byrge inside his bedroom, disable the smoke detector, cut the phone lines, and set his house on fire while he was inside. The plan almost worked too, as the phone and smoke detector were disabled and Byrge was locked in his room, but according to testimony in court, the plan ultimately failed when the gasoline that was ignited under a bathroom sink melted the pipes and extinguished the fire. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, attempted aggravated arson, attempted aggravated kidnapping, attempted second-degree murder, conspiring to commit second-degree murder, David Lee Suddeth, Dorothy Roxanne McFarland, fire, House, Luther Byrge, murder attempt, Randolph Lane, robbery, theft under $500, WYSH

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