Kentucky man accused of trying to hire someone to murder his mother
A Carter County man is accused of trying to hire someone to kill his mother with whom he had a previous legal dispute, according to Kentucky State Police and court records.
Billy G. Reynolds, 41, of Olive Hill was arrested Thursday and charged with solicitation of murder, according to state police.
The Courier Journal and Associated Press reported Reynolds was suspended from his job as a middle school special education teacher and a bus driver for Carter County schools.
Police were alerted to the plot on Jan. 15 and, along with the FBI, learned that Reynolds had contacted someone about the murder for hire, according to state police. The motive for the alleged plan was not immediately released and state police were continuing to investigate.
Reynolds was sued by his mother in November over a deed dispute, according to court records. In that lawsuit, the man’s mother accused him of recording a deed that would have conveyed her property to him while she would retain a “life estate” in the property that would allow her to continue to live there. The woman and her late husband had prepared a deed that would have conveyed the property to their son, but they had decided not to record it, according to the lawsuit complaint.
In an answer to the complaint, the son’s attorneys wrote that his late father had told him to record the deed.
Reynolds is being held in the Carter County jail on a $750,000 bond, according to the jail website.
Solicitation of murder is a Class B felony. If found guilty, Reynolds could serve up to 20 years in prison.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 5:21 PM.
