MEMPHIS, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors in Memphis have asked a judge to allow jurors to hear allegations that a man charged with a hate killing tried to have witnesses killed.
In documents filed Tuesday, Steve Parker and Jonathan Skrmetti said Dale Mardis, 57, tried to recruit another inmate in 2004 to either carry out the killings himself or find a third party, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported. At the time, Mardis, a gun dealer, was in the Shelby County Jail awaiting trial on charges that he killed a county code enforcement officer, Mickey Wright.
Wright vanished in 2001 after visiting a car lot on property owned by Mardis. His truck and wallet were found in different locations.
Mardis pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in 2007 and was sentenced to 15 years. Mardis, who is white, now faces federal charges of committing a hate crime by killing Wright, who was black.
In court papers, the prosecutors said Mardis's wife gave another accused killer money and items like toiletries and shoes in return for his help in getting rid of witnesses. When the couple learned James Montgomery had written the prosecutor looking for a deal, Patsy Mardis allegedly
gave his letter to yet another inmate, a man now on death row, apparently hoping he would kill Montgomery.
