St. Louis County woman bought life insurance for fiancé. A year later, he was found dead.

ST. LOUIS — In the summer of 2010, Victoria R. Williams was looking into buying a $250,000 life insurance policy for her fiancé.

She called an insurance company to inquire about the terms: Would they pay out if her fiancée, for instance, was robbed and killed?

They would, the agent told her, according to court documents.

Williams bought the policy and made the payments.

In October 2011, her fiancé, Charles Harris III, was found shot to death at his home in north St. Louis County.

It looked like he’d been robbed.

On Monday, Williams pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire and money laundering in his death. Federal prosecutors said Williams worked with Michael Grady to carry out the scheme.

“Over the course of the conspiracy,” court records say, “Grady reassured Williams by stating words to the effect that the scheme would work because Grady had done this before, and that he knew what he was doing.”

Grady is set to face trial in Harris’s death in December.

He was convicted in 2021 to providing information to Derrick Terry — one of the region’s biggest cocaine distributors who pleaded guilty to multiple murders — to help Terry elude federal authorities. Grady was sentenced to nearly 19 years in federal prison.

Grady’s Chicago-based attorney, Beau Brindley, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

The case against Williams started in 2010.

Williams, now 67, was in a relationship with Harris, 50, who lived in the 10500 block of Langford Drive, near Castle Point just east of New Halls Ferry Road. Harris worked installing burglary alarms full time and had a side business selling suits from his home.

Grady was an acquaintance of Williams.

It’s unclear from court records how they met or what prompted the murder-for-hire plan, but at some point, Grady told Williams he could “get rid of” her fiancé, court documents say.

Grady told Williams to take out a $250,000 life insurance policy on Harris, documents show. She filled out an application in August 2010, and the policy was approved.

Williams paid the premiums and had multiple phone calls with the insurance company. Meanwhile, she and Grady were making a plan.

In the fall of 2011, Williams and Grady agreed to set Harris up to be killed, records show.

They arranged a meeting for Harris to sell suits to two new clients on Oct. 5.

That evening, Harris texted Williams: “can u check to c if they still coming,” records show.

Williams contacted Grady and confirmed they were on the way.

The next morning, one of Harris’ coworkers called and said he hadn’t shown up to work. Police arrived at the home on Langford Drive at around 11:15 a.m. and found Harris’s body.

On Aug. 29, 2012, Williams mailed a claimant’s statement to the insurance company to collect the life insurance proceeds, records say.

But the company, given the suspicious circumstances of Harris’ death, deposited the money with the St. Louis County court clerk.

Grady helped Williams file legal documents to collect the money, records say. About 2½ years later, on Feb. 28, 2014, the court issued a $224,444 check to Williams.

Williams then gave $110,000 to Grady’s wife so he could pay the shooters, records say.

Williams also received $175,762 from a separate life insurance policy from Harris’s employer.

On Monday, Williams appeared in court and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder for hire, murder for hire and money laundering.

Her lawyer, Donnell Smith, declined comment Monday.

She is set to be sentenced Dec. 16.

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