The Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) Murder-For-Hire Plot

Since BACA was in the news recently and for some reason, I never discussed the crimes committed by Bikers Against Child Abuse. Here is one.

In 2008, there was murder-for-hire plot committed by members of BACA. The trial has lasted four years and eventually, the murderers were found guilty.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/64510262.html

Authorities allege that Mr. Nail's estranged wife, Vera Elizabeth Guthrie-Nail, wanted him dead. She and another man, Thomas Edward Grace, face charges of conspiracy to commit capital murder. All three defendants remain in the Collin County Jail...


Prosecutors contend that Mr. Nail's slaying was supposed to have been staged as a murder-suicide.
He was shot multiple times Dec. 26 on the top floor of the Frisco home he had shared with Ms. Guthrie-Nail before they separated. His girlfriend, Therisa Hofman, also was shot several times but managed to get to a neighbor's house, from which police were called.

The Nails had been separated throughout a bitter divorce case, which was filed in May 2006 and was near an end. Ms. Guthrie-Nail lost the house and primary custody of their 6-year-old daughter.

According to arrest warrant affidavits, Ms. Guthrie-Nail never met Mr. Bell. All contact, the affidavits say, was arranged by a group called Bikers Against Child Abuse.

Mr. Bell has a criminal history of burglary, forgery and theft in the 1980s and '90s. No Texas criminal records were found for Ms. Guthrie-Nail or Mr. Grace.

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2012/09/convicted-felon-testifies-in-capital-murder-trial-that-he-doesnt-remember-police-interview.html/


Therisa Johnson, who was shot along with Craig Nail on Dec. 26, 2007, delivered a victim impact statement after the sentencing of Vera Elizabeth Guthrie-Nail.

Johnson said she and Nail met by accident and fell in love. She described him as an intelligent, romantic, talented and thoughtful man who was a wonderful and loving father to two girls.

“He’s not here anymore because of what you did,” Johnson told Guthrie-Nail. “I just don’t know how you could do something so evil and so mean-spirited.” ...


Nail’s mother, Elaine Sweetman of Rochester, N.Y., said her son’s death “has been life-changing for all of his family.” She said she never got to tell her son how proud she was of him and of his strong relationship as a single father to his two girls.

She told Guthrie-Nail that her belief in goodness in this world has been shattered.

Mark Lyle Bell

“I know there is pure evil in this world,” she told her former daughter-in-law, “and I am looking at it in you.”

Update at 11:50 a.m.: Vera Elizabeth Guthrie-Nail has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. She will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit capital murder and be sentenced to 50 years in prison with credit for the time she’s already served....

Bell pleaded guilty in July 2011 at his attorney’s advice to avoid the possibility of a death sentence. His recorded interview in September 2011 implicated Guthrie-Nail, her mother, Shirley Guthrie, and Thomas Edward Grace in the shooting. Shirley Guthrie has not been charged...

BACA-- Bikera Advocating Corruption and Assault.