Murder-for-Hire Suspect Accused of Trying to Arrange Hit From Jail

Man in custody after alleged murder-for-hire plot

After a Montgomery County man was jailed for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill his wife, he allegedly tried to hatch another hit while in custody.

Elizabeth Aaron said 43-year-old Richard Boyd Jr. began abusing her on their honeymoon in 2001 when he abandoned her on a train in California. He repeatedly beat her, Aaron said, including a 2009 beating that convinced her to take her two children and leave their home on Rocking Spring Drive.

“There was kicking and punching, and it was in front of my little one, and I was afraid for my life at that point,” Aaron said.

When she filed for divorce, Boyd allegedly began looking for someone to kill her. He allegedly contacted his handyman, who he sold drugs to, and asked him to arrange the hit for $10,000 -- $2,000 down and $1,000 per month.

Instead, the handyman became a police informant. Police recorded conversations about the plot, and at the Rock Creek Village Shopping Center, Boyd met with the informant and an undercover cop in the dark of night.

After his arrest in October 2010, Boyd allegedly tried to carry out his plot from jail by seeking to hire someone to kill the handyman and Aaron.

“I cannot remember, in the 30-plus years I’ve been here, anyone who has been similarly situated literally taken in, arrested, incarcerated and from behind the bars of the jailhouse, planning a hit on the very person he hired to do the first hit,” Montgomery County prosecutor John McCarthy said.

Boyd was convicted of solicitation to commit first-degree murder Nov. 30.

Follow NBC Washington to get the latest news, events and entertainment anytime, anywhere: on air, online, and on Facebook // Twitter.

Contact Us