In carrollton, texas. Remarkably, she survived. Ek nancy howard was Shot Poi Blank at her home In Carrollton, texas. Remarkably, she survived. A week into the investigation, detectives got a lead from an inmate who claim to know he knew the real story behind the crime. His name was billy earl johnson. The cops nude he was a tough guy from east texas, an area about 90 miles from carrollton, home to those piney woods. Billy was the ringleader of a colorful crew. Many petty criminals, related to billy by blood or marriage. Certainly a strange cast of characters. East texas folks and some people might depict them as the he hog gang. A gang just getting by in a region struggling to make it. Theres a lot of drugs and methamphetamine. Someone makes money, extra money, they handed out to each other. It is meeting with investigators, he was a Man On A Mission who wanted to cut a deal and fast. I got grandkids that i want to spend the rest of my life with. I want to be free. And i went out this weekend. He told the cops he knew things about the shooting that they did not including the identity of the hit team. He played hardball even as he mixed his metaphors. I got the big ace in the hole. I got the ball in my court. If yall want the Attempted Murder self, youve got to work with me. Im not playing. If the cops did not want to play and billy earl was going to zip it. Im not giving up nothing until i get something solid on my end. Ill die with it. He thought he was in control. He was sitting on important information. Yeah. I told him i cant go to the da with you just saying this. You got to provide information. He was in jail on drug charges a night nancy was chapa told investigators he not only knew who hit ordered the hit but knew how it went down. There were two of them that donna. One drove in one pulled the trigger. Billy told the detectives he thought there murder for hire plot began sometime around 2009. I was laying on the couch and the phone ring. A stranger was on the line. The stranger said his name was john. He said, you dont know me. He told me his name. I dont know you, but i was told you might be the one to do a job for me. The job . Kill nancy howard. He wanted it done as an accident someone, and him. John was a man of means he told the detectives who drove a lexus and communicated with a disposable drop phone. See that number right there . That is johns contact number. If he still got the phone. Thats how you call him . He had it memorized. He provided the whole phone number which was the 1764 number. He could describe nancys car. She had a long. Its dark blue. Its a fourdoor. Hes providing information he should not know. Its pretty obvious. So, you are buying it. He knows a lot is going on and is involved in this. She deserves a little bit of justice. And shell get it but i want something. He told the cops he never intended to follow through with the hit. Im not going to kill nobody. He was going to play john. Take him for as much money as possible. And for two years, thats what happened. More than 10 . More than 20 cracks 50, 60. It was inches billy playing the john gang but others were added as well and the cops already knew one of them. His name is john, okay . Remember hiroms . The young man pulled over a month before nancy was shot. He spun a crazy story that night about being a hitman. Turns out dustins billys stepson. Maybe it wasnt so crazy after all. Coming up. Could the hee haw gang hold the key to the case . He started laying out the whole thing. And tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. But trelegy has shown me that theres still beauty and breath to be had. Because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flareups. And with one dose a day, trelegy improves Lung Function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. Trelegy wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. 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Detectives wall and turner headed for east texas immediately after Hearing Details the detectives headed for east texas immediately after Hearing Details only an insider could know about the nancy howard shooting. The informant was billie earl johnson, the Pitcher Kevin East Texas family. He claimed he had been involved in a plot to kill nancy. They wanted to talk to the Family Members starting with billies stepson, dustin hiroms. He didnt seem to think much of him. Dustin hiroms was a young man pulled over nancys neighborhood one month before she was shot. His name is john, okay . The detectives found dustin staying with a friend in a trailer. We got to make custody on the next two to three days we talked with dustin. Youre a good kid. You got yourself messed up with things. What was that like . The first night he was on meth, crying. And so, it was dustin scared and strung out who provided the detectives with the details about this Man Named John. A man who wanted nancy howard kill. He was not shy about suggesting how it could be done. He told dustin he wanted nancy to be robbed while staying in the hotel in grapevine. You wanted it done with a baseball bat. John provided a photo about her, details of our Schedule Comment suggested nancy be killed while scrapbooking with friends. She didnt do nothing wrong. Shes a christian woman. Who shared with you shes a christian woman . Dustin said john liked to spread his money around. He started laying out the whole thing regarding a stepdad Billie Johnson, his mom , meetings with john. Large sums of money being transferred. He was talking in the millions. Sounds hard to believe. Yeah. He lays out including his grandmother receiving money. Billies other children who were involved. Soon members were calling john whenever they needed money. When they are in jail cannot get bond to get out, he decides, i can do this. I start getting his money. At one point, dustin said john gave him 24,000 to carry out the hit. Money he probably spent on meth or gave away. He had a those him blow off his car to Church Parking lot. He didnt care . I said did you go back to get a . No. As investigators dug deeper, they learned nearly a dozen people from east texas know about the plot to kill nancy. Charlie was one of them. You heard about the shooting In Carrollton . Everybody else heard about a . You know whos involved . Yeah. Who is that . Billie earl johnson and mr. John . Mr. John . Charlie was one of the few not related by blood or marriage to billie earl johnson. Charlie, who started as a Bodyguard For Billie Earl said billie and mr. John tried to get him to shoot nancy howard. He tried to get me to kill that woman. Did he really . Out of jail, charlie told us sometimes john transferred money between Bank Accounts and sometimes John Met Charlie And Billie and handed over packages of cash. At a Hamburger Joint or a gas station. John was all raise pressing them to get the hit done. He was, do you think you can get it done now . Whats the chances . Billie would say we are about an hour away. We will call you when we get close. Call me when you get confirmation. I want this thing done. Abaci, what did this lady do . As long as john was willing to pay, charlie said he and his family were willing to talk about killing nancy. Every time the hit did not happen, john wanted to know why. Billie was the master of outlandish excuses. He had a brain tumor. He had seizures. He had done too much do. The neighbors were home. He would buy it every time. Mr. Johns bigmoney scheme to Kill Nancy Howard was an economic bonanza for east texas. According to charlie, billie earl couldnt seem to spend the money fast enough. Vehicles for his children, all three of them. A car for his mother. A couple of go carts for the grandkids. A ski boat. He bought me a riding mower. A four wheeler. Numerous assault weapons. Anything he wanted. And so, for more than two years, the murder Plot Bankrolled by john killed nothing but time. They didnt follow through with it because they wanted more money. They have been called the hee haw gang but they were valuable to you, all of these characters. It wouldve been a tough case if we only had 12 of them as witnesses. When we have this number of people involved, someone is either telling the truth or someone handed out a script with all the information. Its all the same information. The east texas crowd was canny enough to document the dealings with the mysterious mr. John. Even had a picture of him in this fancy car. Wait until you see it. It is a stunner. Coming up. Who is this infamous mr. John . It is the biggest twist of all. I was in disbelief it was so farfetched. I dont want you to move. Im gonna miss you so much. You realize well have Internet Waiting for us at the new place, right . Oh, we know. We just like making a scene. Transferring your services has never been easier. Get connected on the day of your move with the xfinity app. Can i sleep over at your new place . Can katie sleep over tonight . Sure, honey this generation is so dramatic move with xfinity. Throughout the piney woods of east texas, Detectives Turner and wall heard the same refrain. A Man Named John was paying top dollar to rid the earth of a church lady named nancy howard. Throughout the piney woods of his taxes, Detectives Turner and waller the same refrain. A Man Named John was paying top dollar to ruthie or The Church Lady named nancy howard. To hear the east texans tele, john was a blend of money and murderous intent. A picture snap by one of the locals of the man they call john made everything crystal clear. John was frank howard. A photograph of frank howard sitting in the [ screaming ] lexus and the foreground of the picture, Billie Johnson sitting on his motorcycle. He may have been trained to his friends and mr. John to the east texans, but in truth, he was both. His full name was John Franklin howard. John franklin howard. A. K. A. Frank. Frank. Three names for a man who evidently had been living three lives. One with his wife and carrollton. One with his mistress in california and a third one with the east texas crowd. It was a surprise being the cleaver family and involved with the church. It was unusual. Eight days after nancy was shot, the detectives returned to the scene of the crime. This time, they had a warrant. Im sitting there watching tv and working. The police show up at the door to arrest me. That it was ive never experienced i have no clue whats going on. Whats happening. They put you in the car and took you to the station . Yeah. The charge . Solicitation for murder. Franks children were in shock. Their father may have had an affair but hiring hitmen made no sense. Its a specific type of evil person that tries to kill their spouse. My dad is not the person. Having an affair is a human mistake. Trying to murder someone is not human. No human would do that. Im sorry, my dad is human. It was a huge leap of what they were accusing him of. I never felt my dad hated the kids enough to do that to our mom. He never hated my mom. Never talked poorly about my mom enough to do that. Even nancy refused to believe her husband of nearly 30 years could have orchestrated a plot to have her killed. I was totally in shock. This is so far from anything, first of all, that ever dreamed i would be involved in. Second of all, i mean, it came at the same time. I am shot then i find out my husband has been having a three year affair. I was in disbelief. It was so farfetched. His friends felt the same way. In fact, frank was so well regarded In Carrollton, that his friends offered to post is 1 million bond. At the bond hearing, witness after witness testified to his character in sterling reputation. Even the Denton County prosecutor jamie was impressed. People from his church. People from his community. Current clients came forward impact the courtroom for the bond hearing which is unheard of. They took the stand. Saying his praises of what a good guy he was. He quickly bonded out of jail and investigators were convinced frank howard was behind the attempt on his wifes life. Not only could they prove he had an affair and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a bunch of makebelieve hitmen, they also had a picture of him meeting with one of them. Still, a crucial element for solving the case was missing. We are still kneedeep in the middle of this. We dont have the shooter identified. Everyone we arrested up to this point, we can only confirm they are involved in solicitation to have nancy killed. Which is not to say they didnt get some useful hints from the east texans. Dustin hiroms gives us the name of Michael Speck. Thats Billie Johnsons nephew. The zeroed in on that name, Michael Speck. A search of general recordings of billie earl revealed a surprise. Not only did they hear billie earl talking about somebody named michael, but they also heard another familiar voice. It was the voice of frank howard. I can get out of your. It will take about a month to get out of here, but i need money. Thats part of my problem. What happened to michael . I gave him a bunch of money. How much did you give him . I dont know how much. Its clear from those conversations at the jail that franks directly involved in orchestrating this. Michael scott everything i had left. He said he could take care of everything. Even though the police were sure that Michael Speck was one of the men in the silver car, they had no idea who the other man was. Then, a few months later, call Out Of The Blue seemed to provide the break they had been looking for. The caller sounded credible because she knew details only the shooter and nancy would know. For instance, in a flustered moment, nancy handed her bag of food to the shooter. My ears perked up and i feel should good information about who was responsible for shooting nancy. The caller led them eventually to someone they believed was the shooter. His name is also michael. Michael lawrence. He and speck had been cellmates. This is like 6 degrees of separation. Everyone in this case. The Puzzle Pieces were starting to come together. The police that they could put both michaels and that silver car the night nancy was shot. It would be up to a jury to figure out frank howard had paid them to kill his wife. The case begins in the witnesses sure are colorful, but are they credible . Very questionable characters. Absolutely. Howd you get the jury to believe what theyre saying . Even a little blurry vision can distort things. And something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. 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