A Tinker airman will serve 12 years in prison after he was convicted of setting fire to a house in an effort to kill the woman inside, as part of a murder-for-hire plot.
Staff Sergeant Elijah M. Langhorne was found guilty at a court-martial of two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of aggravated arson and one count of reckless endangerment, according to a statement from Tinker Air Force Base.
Langhorne was sentenced to 12 years in prison, a reduction in rank to Airman Basic and a dishonorable discharge. He was acquitted on a charge of premeditated murder.
According to court records, Langhorne conspired with a second airman, Staff Sgt. Steven Bailey, to murder the woman, including trailing her and tracking her whereabouts. Bailey is facing a January court-martial.
The two had been planning the murder since at least October 2013, court records said. Langhorne made the first attempt to kill the woman in January 2014 by setting fire to her house. The woman and two other occupants escaped.
Langhorne and Bailey then planned a second attempt to murder the woman in March or April 2015, but were arrested by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations before they could carry it out, court records show.
According to The Oklahoman newspaper, the woman that the two airmen were trying to murder was Bailey's ex-fiancé. Bailey and the woman were embroiled in a legal battle over the custody of their two-year-old child. Langhorne approached Bailey and offered to kill the woman in exchange for $20,000.
Following the failed murder-by-arson attempt, the two men decided to lay low before they tried to kill the woman again the following year, The Oklahoman said. The plan in 2015 was for Langhorne to shoot the woman as she entered a local courthouse for a child custody hearing.
Bailey became concerned that Langhorne wouldn't be able to accomplish the murder, so he contacted a third airman in an attempt to hire a hitman. The third airman instead contacted Air Force law enforcement, The Oklahoman reported.
Air Force Times has not been able to reach Langhorne, Bailey or their legal representatives.
"Staff Sgt. Langhorne will be assigned appellate counsel and the appeals process will begin early next year," a statement from Tinker said.
Langhorne also pled guilty to drug charges of using and distributing anabolic steroids. He was previously assigned to the 72nd Security Forces Squadron at Tinker, personnel records show.
