Grandmother hired ‘hit man’ to see more of her grandchildren; now she’s going to prison

A 63-year-old Independence woman who tried to hire a hit man to kill her former son-in-law was sentenced Thursday to four years in federal prison.

Teresa Owen was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Kansas City where she pleaded guilty last September to using interstate commerce facilities to commit murder-for-hire.

Owen was involved in a custody dispute involving her grandchildren and communicated with a man she thought was a hit man. The man was actually an undercover police officer.

“Owen told the (undercover officer) that the intended victim was a problem for her and was standing in between her seeing her grandchildren,” according to court documents filed in the case.

The undercover officer told Owen that he would charge her $700 to commit the killing.

She told him she wanted it to look like an accident and provided a $200 down payment, according to the documents.

Owen gave the “hit man” photographs of her former son-in-law, his home and work addresses and the type of car he drove.

She was arrested and charged in the case in June 2015.

This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Grandmother hired ‘hit man’ to see more of her grandchildren; now she’s going to prison."