Wolfmeyer acquitted in murder-for-hire plot

Jury rules the St. Louis woman did not help Mike Danton hire a hitman.

By Stephanie V. Siek ~ The Associated Press

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- A federal jury Monday acquitted a young Missouri woman of charges that she helped former St. Louis Blues player Mike Danton hire a hit man in a failed plot to kill his agent.

Jurors deliberated more than three hours before clearing 19-year-old Katie Wolfmeyer of two felony counts in the plot that unraveled in April when the would-be hit man notified authorities.

Before the verdicts were read, U.S. District Judge William Stiehl admonished the courtroom to contain their emotions. When the acquittals were announced, gasps of relief resonated from Wolfmeyer's family and friends before they applauded, giving Wolfmeyer a thumbs-up sign.

Wolfmeyer and her mother sobbed.

Earlier Monday, Wolfmeyer attorney Donald Groshong had told jurors his client was "an unwitting participant" -- a pawn of Danton and the would-be killer -- in the alleged scheme.

"We're not asking you for sympathy," he said in arguing for the acquittal. "Katie Wolfmeyer never intended to murder, never intended to be involved in a murder, never intended to have one committed."

Stephen Clark, an assistant U.S. attorney, argued moments earlier that jurors should look past Wolfmeyer's sobbing testimony and her claims the FBI was plotting against her.

"This is no conspiracy against Little Miss Muffet," Clark said, casting Wolfmeyer as a conniving liar.

"She's tried to play on your sympathies," he added, citing Wolfmeyer's efforts to look demure, from sporting a ponytail and a purple hair ribbon -- her favorite color -- to having a little cartoon tissue box at the defense table.

"You can't believe her foolish lies," Clark argued.

Prosecutors said that Wolfmeyer, of the St. Louis suburb of Florissant, put Danton in touch with acquaintance Justin Levi Jones, whom Danton offered $10,000 to kill his agent, David Frost.

Jones and Wolfmeyer apparently did not know that Frost was the intended target, and Wolfmeyer testified last week she knew nothing about Danton's bid to have anyone killed.

"Danton didn't tell me anything," she testified. "I knew nothing. I knew absolutely nothing."

When Clark asked her then if the government was conspiring against her -- "What you're telling us is that basically all the witnesses for the government have lied?" he said -- Wolfmeyer replied yes.

Jones, a police dispatcher in Columbia, Ill., pretended to accept Danton's offer but instead notified the FBI.

Frost was unharmed and has denied that he was the intended target.

Authorities said Danton and Frost had argued over Danton's alleged promiscuity and alcohol use, and Danton feared Frost would talk to team management.

Danton, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in July, is to be sentenced Oct. 22. He did not testify during Wolfmeyer's trial.