Two Soldiers Sentenced to Federal Prison in Murder Plot at Fort Hood

John E. Murphy, Acting United States Attorney, announced that in Waco Chief U.S. District Judge Walter Smith, Jr. sentenced two U.S. Army soldiers to lengthy prison terms for their roles in a murder plot at Ft. Hood. Private (E-1) William Foster was sentenced to 25 years, and Specialist (E-4) Adam R. Watson was sentenced to 19 years, eight months in federal prison.

On February 26, 2009, after two and a half days of testimony followed by a day of deliberation, a federal jury found the two defendants guilty of conspiring during July and August 2008, to kill Foster’s wife, Kailey Foster, in exchange for $75,000.

Testimony at the trial showed that during the time of the conspiracy, William Foster and Adam Watson were active duty members of the U.S. Army serving in Iraq. Believing that his wife was having affairs with other men while he was overseas, William Foster solicited the Watson and Watson’s wife to assist Foster in having his wife killed. Testimony also revealed that in June 2008, Foster removed his wife from a $100,000 insurance policy through Serviceman Group Life Insurance (SGLI) but added her back on the policy a month later so that he could use the proceeds of the policy after his wife was killed in order to pay the Watsons’ $75,000.

Last month, Judge Smith sentenced Chantell Watson to four years in federal prison and ordered her to pay a $1,000 fine after she pleaded guilty last December to conspiracy to commit murder for hire and agreed to testify for the government at the trial of her co-defendants.

“The prompt and thorough investigation conducted by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation prevented what would have been a tragic
death,” said John E. Murphy, Acting United States Attorney.

Assistant United States Attorneys Mark Frazier and Greg Gloff prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.