Trish Mehaffey, CR Gazette –
CEDAR RAPIDS – A man who attempted to hire a person to kill the Mount Vernon Police chief was found guilty by a jury Thursday in U.S. District Court.
Lorenzo Harris-Thompson, 28, was found guilty of attempted obstruction of justice, attempted murder of a witness and murder for hire after a three day trial. Sentencing will be set later.
Harris-Thompson, while pending sentencing in the Iowa County Jail after pleading guilty last year to being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm, was recorded in phone calls from the jail attempting to hire a hit man to kill Mount Vernon Police Chief Mark Winder.
Harris-Thompson in the phone calls asked Melissa Johnson, 28, to give money to a hit man to prevent Winder from testifying at his sentencing on the gun charge, according to court documents. Harris-Thompson was afraid Winder’s testimony would increase his prison time and wanted to prevent him from attending.