Three Charged in Murder-for-Hire Plot Targeting SC Lottery Treasurer

Three people have been jailed and charged in a foiled murder-for-hire plot that targeted a prominent Mount Pleasant Realtor who serves on the state's lottery commission, according to media reports.

The three suspects were reportedly planning to kill Nancy Latham, a Realtor who sells homes on Isle of Palms. She's also the treasurer of the South Carolina Lottery Commission.

Police uncovered the plot after pulling over one of the suspects in a routine traffic stop, Live5News reports. The man had a gun, and reportedly volunteered to police that he was involved in the alleged crime.

That man, Aaron Russell Wilkinson, 38, along with Wendy Annette Moore, 37, were arrested in Charleston and charged in the plot, the TV station reports. Samuel Arthur Yenawine, 38, was detained in Kentucky.

There's no indication why the trio targetted Latham, but they apparently had information about where the woman lived, her schedules and photos of the potential victim and her vehicles, the Post and Courier reports.

One of the suspects, Wendy Annette Moore, was in the Charleston area already on April 1 when Wilkinson and Yanawine initially visited to plot the crime, the newspaper reports. She met with the men on the island and gave them $5,000 along with prescription drugs that could be used in the crime.

The men returned this week to allegedly carry out the homicide, but Wilkinson's traffic stop arrest and reported confession foiled the effort. He told police he had no intention to actually kill the woman, but he was afraid of his co-conspirators.

Federal authorities will not comment on the case, and Latham declined to comment when she was reached by a Post and Courier reporter this week.