ST. LOUIS — A Maryland Heights man has been indicted along with two others on accusations that he plotted the murder-for-hire of his own mother for a life insurance payout.
The trio was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Wednesday on one count each of conspiracy to commit murder for hire and murder for hire. Accused are Andrew C. Hubbard, 37, of Maryland Heights; Justin R. Lee, 37, of Northwoods; and Eric Washington, 45, of Jennings.
Hubbard is the son of the victim, 53-year-old Andreaia Worthem. Police found Worthem fatally shot in an alley in north St. Louis on July 7.
According to court documents, investigators obtained Worthem's call records and identified the phone numbers that had communicated with her phone in the hours leading up to her killing. One of the numbers belonged to her son.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for area cell data for three locations critical to the investigation: Worthem's home, the place where her body was found, and a point along the path that her phone traveled in the time in between.
They used the data to identify two potential suspects whose cell phones were with or near Worthem's cell phone near the same time at all three locations. They further found that Worthem's phone had communicated with both of these devices on the morning her body was found and the prior evening.
Days after Worthem was killed, Hubbard submitted a claim on a life insurance policy he had taken out on Worthem in 2019 that listed Hubbard as the sole beneficiary, court documents said.
On Oct. 11, a federal search warrant was executed at Hubbard's home in Maryland Heights and Hubbard was detained. Investigators seized three guns loaded with ammunition and seized multiple rounds of ammunition from around the house.
During questioning, Hubbard admitted to orchestrating his mother's murder and soliciting the help of Lee and Washington, court documents said. He also admitted to trying to collect on her life insurance policy.
Lee and Washington corroborated Hubbard's admissions, documents said.
Each of the charges is punishable by a life sentence or the death penalty, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
