Versailles, MO – In a perfect world, Dreamin’ Demon would be required reading for everyone.  Then jerks like Gilbert Leon Silvey would know that his gig has already been done by Ralph Nickel and it didn’t work out so well for him, either.  But noooo, Silvey thought he could do it better.  He was wrong.

Gilbert Leon Silvey, 44, has been arrested on a charge of attempted murder after trying to hire a hit man to kill a 14-year-old girl and her family.  Silvey wanted the girl dead so that she couldn’t testify at his upcoming trial for multiple counts of child molestation. 

The whole thing started in 2006, when Silvey decided to get his rocks off on a twelve-year-old girl.  He allegedly molested the child several times that year and into 2007. In November of 2007, Silvey was charged with three counts of child molestation.  He was arrested and jailed in Morgan County, Missouri, with his set at $20,000 cash.

In February of 2008, Silvey’s bond was reduced over the protest of the prosecution.  The bond was lowered to $5,000 with a ten percent cash or surety option, meaning that Silvey walked out of jail on February 15 for about five hundred bucks.

In April, the case was sent to the Morgan County Circuit Court.  That judge revoked bond, but by then Silvey was sitting in the neighboring Cooper County Jail after a fourth charge of child molestation was filed against him there.  Silvey tried to get a public defender and a bond reduction in Cooper County, but was denied, mainly because he already had a private attorney handling the Morgan County case.

Silvey’s Morgan County trial was scheduled to begin on OctoberOctober reviews 9.  But during the course of the Morgan County and Cooper County joint investigation into the molestation charges, deputies got an earful.  During a recorded jailhouse conversation, Silvey tried to hire another inmate to kill his victim – and her family. He mentioned the hit more than once, and tried to set it up.  The intended hit man had been listening to Silvey talk about killing the young girl and alerted deputies, who began surveillance – and sure enough, Gilbert Silvey thought that by killing his victim and her family, he’d get away with both murder and molestation.  Oops.

On September 25, Silvey wasn’t in court in Morgan County for a scheduled hearing, but his attorney was.  During that hearing it was determined that the taped interview with the victim would serve just fine in lieu of her personal testimony – a good move, since the child is clearly in danger if Silvey gets anywhere near her.

Silvey remains in jail, and is charged with attempted murder in addition to the four counts of child molestation.  His bond on the attempted murder charge has been set at $50,000 cash.

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