Knox brothers were charged with murder for hire in July
By Brad Hicks / Staff Writer
A Sept. 29 trial date has been set in United States District Court in London for the brothers accused of allegedly planning the murder of a witness set to testify against one of them.
Randall Perkins, 47, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing on Tuesday. His brother, Bill Perkins, 42, pleaded not guilty at his hearing last Wednesday. In July, the two were indicted on charges of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities to commit murder for hire and aiding and abetting the transfer of a firearm for use in a crime of violence. Bill Perkins was also indicted on a count of manufacturing 50 or more marijuana plants.
An affidavit written by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Richard McMahan states the alleged plot began during the weekend of May 8. Randall Perkins was housed in the Whitley County Detention Center on state drug charges. A man who later became a cooperating witness, referred to as CW1 in the affidavit, was jailed with Perkins. The two were familiar with each other, having been previously incarcerated together. Randall Perkins was in jail on drug charges stemming for an investigation conducted by the Barbourville Police Department in fall 2007.
On the weekend of May 8, Randall Perkins allegedly told CW1 the identity of the witness set to testify against him in court and said if the evidence from the witness could not be introduced, charges against him would be dropped. Randall Perkins then allegedly solicited CW1 to murder this witness and provided CW1 with directions to the witness’ home.
To disguise talks of the plan, Randall Perkins allegedly told CW1 to discuss the plan under the code of “the construction of a building” and to contact his brother, Bill Perkins, of Barbourville, who allegedly had knowledge of the plot. According to the affidavit, Randall Perkins told CW1 that the murder needed to take place before his June 26 court date.
Upon his release from jail, CW1 notified authorities of the plot and agreed to cooperate in the investigation. CW1 met with Bill Perkins several times, but Bill Perkins said he had no knowledge of the plot, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states that on May 29, CW1 received a letter from Randall Perkins which stated he had called his brother “about that garage” and promised to pay CW1 once the garage was “built to stay built.” CW1 received another letter on June 9 from “RKP.” This second letter allegedly advised CW1 “to go see B. He has a tool.”
On June 11, CW1 and an undercover agent went to the residence of Bill Perkins, where they were allegedly given a .22 caliber rifle and ammunition. According to the affidavit, they also noticed marijuana plants being grown outside the home.
Before CW1 and the agent left the residence, Bill Perkins allegedly told them “I hope I never see that gun again.” The affidavit also states Bill Perkins told them “You’ve got that wrench that’s so important to building that garage.”
On June 25 , CW1 met again with Randall Perkins at the detention center and showed him a cell-phone photograph of a person who appeared to be dead. According to the affidavit, Randall Perkins advised CW1 he would “make a phone call tonight (to) get the payment on the garage deal.” However, the phone photograph was in actuality a mock death scene constructed by police to be used as part of the investigation.
The following Friday, Bill Perkins was arrested on a federal warrant. For the charges of plotting the murder for hire and the transfer of a firearm, the two men face up to 10 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release. For the manufacturing of marijuana charge, Bill Perkins is also facing up to five years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine and a minimum of two years supervised release.
A motions hearing for both men is set for Sept. 2 in U.S. District Court.
Brad Hicks can be reached at bhicks@thetimestribune.com
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