Bartow Inmate Offered $10K, Hawks Tickets To Kill Ex-Wife

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A Bartow County inmate has been sentenced to federal prison for trying to hire someone to kill his ex-wife. Michael McEarchern was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison for promising $10,000 and two Atlanta Hawks basketball tickets as payment to carry out the woman's murder, the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

“McEarchern was serious about having his ex-wife killed and provided $800 as a down payment for her murder,” said U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. “The defendant has been brought to justice and his lengthy prison sentence will provide him with an opportunity to reflect on his egregious crime.”

According to federal prosecutors, McEarchern was an inmate at the Bartow County Jail after he was arrested in October 2017 on drug charges. While at the jail, he reached out to several people in an attempt to find someone who could "arrange for the murder of his ex-wife," who lived in Cobb County.

One individual told a friend of McEarchern’s desire to kill his ex-wife, and that person reported the crime to the FBI. To ensure that McEarchern was serious about seeking someone to carry out the murder, the FBI waited for the inmate to reach out to the informant, which he did.

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Believing that he was arranging the killing of his ex-wife, McEarchern agreed to pay $10,000 in cash and two tickets to an Atlanta Hawks basketball game as payment. To show his intent, he also mailed $800 in cash to the purported assassin. Jail recordings captured McEarchern providing the address to the person who he asked to mail the money for him. The FBI retrieved an envelope containing the $800 with a return address of the person who sent the money on behalf of the inmate. The defendant also provided an address where the assassin could find the ex-wife.

“Had the FBI not been notified by a concerned citizen, McEarchern more than likely would have found someone to carry out the murder of his ex-wife,” said J.C. Hacker, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. “It is a great example of how law enforcement, working with the public, can prevent crime and, in this case, the murder of an innocent woman.”

McEarchern, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy pleading guilty in April to the murder-for-hire charge. His federal prison tenure will be followed by three years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bartow County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim S. Dammers, chief of the Organized Crime and Gang Section, prosecuted the case.

Photo: Michael McEarchern. Credit: Bartow County Jail