Dr. Arnold Smith allegedly offered a hitman $20,000 to kill attorney Lee Abraham, according to a Greenwood detective’s sworn statement.
Derrick Lacy, who was critically wounded in the Saturday night shooting, allegedly told investigators prior to being taken to the hospital that he overhead the physician offer Keaira Byrd the money during a speakerphone conversation.
The information comes from an affidavit sworn Sunday by Greenwood police Det. Jeff Byars prior to getting a search warrant for Smith’s home.
The document, released by Attorney General Jim Hood’s office, lays out in detail a version of events leading to the deadly confrontation at the Market Street office, across from the Leflore County Courthouse.
It contradicts, however, in parts information provided Monday by Greenwood Police Chief Henry Purnell.
Byars’ affidavit states that Byrd and Lacy had contacted Abraham and offered to sell him an automatic weapon that they said had been provided to them by Smith to kill Abraham. The hired guns said the firearm bore Smith’s fingerprints and would serve as evidence for an ongoing murder-for-hire plot being investigating by the attorney general.
Abraham made arrangements with them to meet at his office Saturday evening and contacted the Attorney General’s Office requesting investigators to be present, the affidavit states. Investigators Larry Ware, Jerry Spell and Tony Green traveled to Greenwood for the meeting.
When Byrd and Lacy arrived, Byrd was wearing a ski mask and holding an assault weapon, according to a statement released Monday by the Attorney General’s Office.
“The apparent intent of Byrd and Lacy was to kill Abraham,” Byars’ affidavit states. “An exchange of gunfire took place after Byrd fired at the officers. Byrd was killed as a result of the shooting, and Lacy was severely injured.”
An ambulance took Lacy to Greenwood Leflore Hospital to await a helicopter ride to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He was reported earlier today in critical condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit. While at Greenwood Leflore, he spoke with Leflore County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Robert Quinn and Greenwood Police Det. Lawrence Williams, the affidavit states.
It was then that Lacy told them about overhearing the conversation where Smith offered Byrd $20,000 to kill Abraham.
Purnell said Monday that he was not aware of Lacy implicating Smith in his brief conversations with investigators following the shootings. Purnell said he understood that the two alleged assassins had offered a videotape to Abraham, not a firearm.
In seeking the search warrant, Byars’ statement said that information from emails, text messages, phone calls and Internet activity at the home would provide evidence related to the crime of conspiracy to commit murder. It also said further evidence would be found in weapons, ammunition and printed materials located there.
A large number of investigators’ vehicles descended upon Smith’s home Sunday evening after the warrant was obtained. Smith’s medical practice, North Central Mississippi Regional Cancer Center, was searched later Sunday evening.
In addition to the conspiracy charge, Smith has also been charged with capital murder related to the death of Byrd, as has Lacy. The capital murder charge could carry the death penalty. An attorney general’s press release alleged the slaying took place during the commission of a burglary, making the capital murder charge possible.
The document doesn’t shed any light on why William Paul Muller, a Morgan City brick mason, was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
For more information, see Tuesday’s Commonwealth.
Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
GPD Det. Jeff Byars' affidavit
