Missouri woman is sentenced in murder-for-hire plot

A northwest Missouri woman was sentenced Thursday to eight years and six months in prison for trying to hire a hit man to kill a romantic rival.

Kristina Marie Swinford, 33, of Maryville, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, where she pleaded guilty in May to interstate solicitation of murder.

The intended victim, a woman identified in court documents as A.M., was the wife of a man Swinford had dated while he was separated from A.M. Swinford also blamed the woman for losing her job, according to court documents.

An acquaintance of Swinford contacted police last year about Swinford seeking a hit man.

Police arranged for that person to introduce her to a “hit man,” who was actually an undercover federal agent. The agent, posing as a would-be hit man from Iowa, met with her on several occasions to discuss a price and how she wanted A.M. to be killed.

The intended victim also reported to police that she had created a Facebook account under the name of a real person and that Swinford had exchanged online messages with her about having A.M. killed.

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 12:54 PM with the headline "Missouri woman is sentenced in murder-for-hire plot."