Woman guilty in plot to murder husband [Culpeper Star-Exponent, Va.]

Sept. 21--A Culpeper woman accused of trying to hire someone to kill her husband in February pleaded guilty Monday to an amended charge in Culpeper County Circuit Court.

As part of a plea agreement with the prosecution, Rosemary Randall, 54, of the 14100 block of Woodland Church Road, entered an Alford plea to solicitation to commit murder. She was originally charged with solicitation to commit capital murder. Both are felonies.

An Alford plea allows a defendant to technically avoid admitting guilt while acknowledging sufficient evidence exists for a conviction.

Randall is scheduled to return to court Nov. 30 at 1:30 p.m. for sentencing.

The Culpeper County Sheriff's Office arrested and charged Randall March 4 with attempting to hire a hit man to kill her husband, Gary Randall, 58.

The plea agreement allows Rosemary Randall to remain free on bond until sentencing as long as she avoids direct or indirect contact with Gary Randall and witnesses Chris and Shannon Price. She must also continue to live with her brother in the 6000 block of Hoover Road in Reva.

Wearing glasses over smudged dark eye makeup and baggy eyes, Rosemary Randall answered Judge John G. Berry's questions in a soft voice after he requested that she speak up.

During Monday's hearing, assistant commonwealth's attorney Tom Smith summarized the case for the court.

Smith said Chris and Shannon Price of Culpeper had rented a trailer on the Randall's property for about six months; when the couple fell behind on rent, Rosemary Randall asked Chris Price to kill her husband. Smith said she even offered to split the life insurance money, giving the couple $25,000 if they went through with it.

"I wish the mother (expletive) would die," Smith read from Rosemary Randall's taped statements to the Prices. "If I knew somebody ... I can't do it because I have to play the victim with the life insurance company."

Instead of becoming a hit man, Chris Price informed the sheriff's office about Rosemary Randall's plot to kill her husband. Meanwhile, she thought Chris Price was going to get a friend to do the job.

CCSO investigators set up a sting operation at the Red Carpet Inn where Rosemary Randall thought she was meeting a hit man. After the encounter, she was arrested.

In a brief statement to the court, defense attorney Ed Gentry said he agrees with his client's plea deal.

"It was a difficult decision for her because she felt she was not guilty of this," Gentry said. "There were a lot of inconsistencies. It would have been a good case to try, but you never know what a jury will do."

Gentry also asked the judge to consider his client's "insignificant" prior record during sentencing. Rosemary Randall was found guilty of petit larceny in November 1990.

At the conclusion of Monday's hearing, Gary Randall's attorney, Monica Chernin, reminded Rosemary Randall to appear in court Sept. 29 at 3 p.m. for a protective order hearing.

Gary Randall, a plumber, filed for divorce from Rosemary Randall in March 2009, after nearly 20 years of marriage. However, the couple is still listed as married.

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