Kansan gets eight years in murder-for-hire plot against his wife

A Kansas City federal judge sentenced a Basehor, Kan., man to eight years in prison Thursday for trying to hire someone to kill his wife.

But the hit man who contracted with Lee D. Smith, 38, tipped off police instead of pulling the trigger.

Smith pleaded guilty in October, admitting that he contacted a Kansas City man the previous May about killing his wife. Police later arrested Smith after inviting him to police headquarters under the pretense of giving him some “news” about his wife.