Mark Sievers’ friend flipped on him – making deal to save himself

April 21--The lead investigator in Mark Sievers' murder case confirmed Thursday that Sievers' longtime friend has flipped on him, telling investigators that Sievers offered to pay him money from life insurance policies in exchange for killing his wife.

Testifying at a motion to reduce Sievers' bond -- which was denied -- Lee County sheriff's Sgt. Michael Downs said co-defendant Curtis Wayne Wright Jr. has confessed to taking part in the murder-for-hire plot to kill Sievers' wife, Teresa. Sievers planned to pay Wright using money from $4.43 million worth of life insurance policies taken out over a several-year period, Downs said.

The life insurance money "was the motivation," Downs said, for Sievers to employ Wright and another man, Jimmy Rodgers, to have his wife killed at the couple's Bonita Springs home in June. She was found bludgeoned to death while Mark Sievers was in Connecticut with the couple's two children.

Prosecutors had previously said Wright agreed to provide "substantial cooperation" as part of a plea agreement, but Thursday's testimony from Downs was the first detailed public statement on the na-ture of Wright's cooperation. Wright pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge days before Sievers' arrest. He will receive a 25-year prison sentence in exchange for his cooperation.

Money has long been suspected to be a motivating factor in the killing of Teresa Sievers, 40, a popular Bonita Springs doctor. In an investigative summary released a few months after her death, detectives noted the existence of five life insurance policies in Teresa Sievers' name, as well as other evidence of financial and marital turmoil.

Asked about Wright's confession, Sievers' lawyer, Michael Mummert, said Wright's statement "was made by a convicted felon in the interest of self-preservation." Wright has served time on drug-related charges in Missouri. He faced as much as life in prison if convicted of murder.

Downs' testimony came amid Sievers' unsuccessful request to have his bond on a second-degree murder charge reduced from $4.43 million -- equal to the maximum life insurance payouts -- to $250,000. In response to questions from his lawyer and Assistant State Attorney Hamid Hunter, Sievers testified that he has few assets and can't afford the $4.43 million bond, but his family could help him post a $250,000 surety bond.

"I would rely on my family to pool their resources and see what they can come up with," Sievers said.

Mummert argued that Sievers wouldn't be able to receive any life insurance money or use his house as an asset until the completion of his criminal case. But Hunter argued Sievers could indirectly receive funds from payouts made to other family members.

Hunter also noted that Sievers has ties to Missouri, where he still owns a condominium, and that the bond is reasonable "in light of the facts of the case."

Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle agreed with prosecutors, citing the nature of the case as a primary reason for denying the request.

Mummert conceded that Thursday's ruling will make it more difficult for Sievers to retain temporary custody of his two daughters, ages 9 and 11. Florida Department of Children and Families officials have moved to have the children temporarily removed from Sievers' custody, in large part due to Sievers' inability to care for his daughters while he's incarcerated.

"He has a very close relationship with (his daughters), and really my heart goes out to them," Mummert said.

Sievers' daughters are living with their maternal grandmother, who's seeking to retain custody for the duration of the criminal case. Mark Sievers' mother is also seeking temporary custody. A hearing to hash out the dueling requests is set for May 11.

Sievers' next criminal court hearing is a case management conference scheduled for May 18. Rodgers' case is also pending.

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