Ex-Neighbor Convicted of Plot to Murder Minn. Prosecutor
A former neighbor of a Minnesota prosecutor was convicted by a jury Friday of plotting his murder.
Stephen Woodward was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the premeditated first-degree murder of Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, the Lakeville Patch reports.
Woodward apparently blamed Backstrom for a drug case that initially put him behind bars. Another charge, that Woodward had also conspired to murder the sentencing judge in the drug case, was dismissed for lack of evidence before the jury got the murder conspiracy case, which was prosecuted in Rice County.
Woodward is scheduled for sentencing in January. State guidelines call for him to get 18 years, the Star Tribune reports.
He had been scheduled for release in May on the drug conviction.
An earlier ABAJournal.com post provides additional details:
Inmate Charged in Alleged Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Minn. Prosecutor and Sentencing Judge
