HENRY COUNTY, Va. – A Ridgeway woman will be sentenced in January after pleading guilty Wednesday to a charge of criminal solicitation of murder.
Gennevieve McGhee was arrested last November in Ridgeway after the man she hired told sheriff’s deputies about the plot.
A case summary filed in court shows she offered the man property in exchange for killing a friend. The case was set to go to trial before McGhee decided to plead guilty.
“After considering the evidence and looking at everything the commonwealth was going to present, she realized that evidence was such that a conviction was very likely,” said Daniel Rouleau, McGhee’s attorney. “And there are certain benefits in Virginia’s judicial system to pleading guilty, so she decided to plead guilty rather than contest the charges.”
According to the case summary, the would-be hit man cooperated with investigators, recording a two-hour conversation with McGhee, during which she sketched out where her intended target would be inside his home. The next day, a SWAT team helped execute a warrant at McGhee’s residence, and she was placed under arrest.
“It’s our goal as the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to always protect the community, those that are part of the community. And it was our belief that back in November, Ms. McGhee was putting a member of our community in serious harm’s way,” said Emily Willard, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney for Henry County. “And so we wanted to make sure that she was charged. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office charged her accordingly. And we did our best to prosecute her to our fullest extent. And she pled guilty today to make sure that she owned up to her mistakes.”
During sentencing, McGhee could face a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison. Her attorney hopes the guilty plea will make a difference in reducing that sentence.