FAYETTE COUNTY , Tenn. — Fred Wortman showed no emotion as he entered a Fayette County Court Thursday morning.
The father and husband was accused of things that are far from fatherly. Investigators said Wortman wanted his wife dead and twice tried to hire people to do it.
“We will see what proof they have to back that up,” Robert Brannon, the attorney who represented Wortman, said.
He said the three-count indictment against him for soliciting to commit first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder were serious.
Wortman reportedly plans to fight — he entered a not guilty plea to all charges.
Thursday’s court hearing lasted only two minutes, but fighting the charges at the trial set for Dec. 1 will take a lot longer.
WREG dug into the details and found Wortman and his wife Staci were going through a divorce.
He was accused of meeting a hit man in early June and providing him information on Staci’s whereabouts. He even reportedly told the man that it didn’t matter if their children were home when their mother was murdered.
That hit man was an undercover agent, and Wortman was arrested.
Police said he did it again behind bars; he allegedly tried to get another inmate to kill his wife in July.
Wortman’s attorney said since there were so many charges, they wouldn’t push to lower the $15 million bond — they would just wait to fight in court.
“We will investigate the case, discuss the case and determine how we will proceed in it,” Brannon said.
Wortman was also charged in Shelby County, accused of using poisoned toothpaste to try and kill his wife. He was scheduled to be in court on that charge Aug. 11.