The
husband of Dr Teresa Sievers, who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in her Bonita Springs, Florida home in June last year, has been charged in her murder by police.
Mark Sievers has been accused of commissioning two men — his childhood friend Curtis Wayne Wright Jr and Jimmy Rodgers — to kill his wife while he and their two children were visiting family in Connecticut.
Rodgers and Wright were arrested in August last year, and officials released a probable cause affidavit linking Sievers to the pair in December, but an arrest was only made on Friday, the same day that Wright co-operated with police.
The body of Teresa Sievers, who was known locally for her appearances on television and in magazines, was found in her kitchen by neighbors on June 29. The back of her head had been smashed in with a hammer.
Rodgers and Wright were picked up soon after, when GPS data from a vehicle Rodgers rented showed it was driven to Wright's home in Missouri and then to Sievers's home in Florida on the night of the murder
Even more damningly, Rodgers's girlfriend, Taylor Shomaker, contacted police to tell them that he had told her Sievers commissioned him and Wright to commit the killing.
However, it wasn't until Friday that police made their move. That was the same day Wright agreed to plea deal that got him a shorter sentence of 25 years, according to
NBC 2.
Lee County sheriff Mike Scott said in December: 'We have no problem arresting people, but we do so when the time is right, particularly in a case like this. There’s a great deal at stake and we want to make sure everything is correct.'
He declined to say why investigators moved now, bit did tell
WINK News that 'We were after Mark Sievers, we got our man, and we’re very happy for that.'
Sievers appeared before Lee County jail court on Friday, where he was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly commissioning Wright and Rodgers to break into his wife's home and murder her.
He showed little emotion during the hearing, reported
ABC News, adding that Scott said of Sievers: 'I’m not 100 percent sure he’s got blood in his veins. I think it might be ice.'
The motivation for the murder was not immediately apparent, but may have had something to do with financial difficulties; WINK reported that the couple owed more than $32,000 to the IRS, and that life insurance policies on the couple totaled more than $4.4million.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Sievers's bail was set at $4.43million. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Sievers's arrest came after an in-depth investigation that spanned multiple states and had investigators listening to hours of phone calls between him and Wright, a childhood best friend, during which they believe the killing was commissioned.
'This murder was committed in expectation of Wright getting paid an undisclosed amount of money from Mark Sievers and then in turn, he was to pay Rodgers $10,000 for his involvement,' said Lee County Sheriff’s Office in court documents.
According to WINK, the documents outline a number of details that point to Sievers's involvement in his wife's murder.
These include claims that the couple had been heard arguing loudly by neighbors, that they had both had 'multiple affairs' and that they were considering divorce.
It is also alleged that Sievers, who was in Connecticut with the couple's children visiting relatives, told his mother-in-law to leave the Florida home's burglar alarm deactivated hours before his wife returned to it, and that when police later asked him to give a DNA sample he refused.
It also says that both Sievers and Wright had 'coded' conversations on disposable cell phones and that Wright and Rodgers were seen buying 'suspicious items' in a Florida Walmart, as well as mentioning the GPS evidence from Rodgers's hire car.
Appearing before court on Friday, Wright pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role 'in the planning and participating of the murder of Teresa Sievers,' WINK reported.
He also agreed to help prosecutors with and has accepted a shorter sentence of 25 years.
A statement released by Wright's attorney said: 'The decision of Curtis Wayne Wright to accept responsibility and plead guilty to second-degree murder will hopefully begin to answer the many questions and bring closure to the family of Teresa Sievers.'
Scott described the case as the most complicated in his 28 years in law enforcement, according to WINK.
'Our community can take solace knowing that the power of the sheriff’s office was brought to bear on three very dangerous people who gave a great deal, and I want to underscore, a great deal of effort and energy into covering their tracks, into throwing us off on their track,' he said.