Jury Finds Idaho Attorney Guilty in Wife's Murder Plot

BOISE, Idaho -- A federal jury in Idaho has found an attorney who once represented the Aryan Nations guilty on all four counts related to a plot to hire a hit man to kill his wife and mother-in-law.

The jury handed down the verdict Thursday in Edgar Steele's trial.

Prosecutors argued that the northern Idaho lawyer hired Larry Fairfax to kill his wife and mother-in-law last year because he wanted to collect on their life insurance policies and be free to pursue a relationship with another woman.

Steele's defense attorney said his client was being set up by the alleged hit man in the case, Larry Fairfax, and that recordings of the two men discussing the murder plans were fabricated.

Steele's wife, Cyndi Steele, has said she believes her husband is innocent.