Jackson Jambalaya

The Greenwood Commonwealth reports a grand jury indicted Dr. Arnold Smith along with two other men for plotting to kill Greenwood Attorney Lee Abraham:

" Dr. Arnold Smith and two others have been indicted by a Leflore County grand jury for allegedly plotting to assassinate Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham.

Smith and Derrick Lacy, one of two alleged hitmen, also could face the death penalty if convicted on a separate charge of capital murder in connection with the death of the other alleged assassin, who was felled in the April 28 shootout at Abraham’s downtown office.

A fourth alleged conspirator, Morgan City brick mason Paul Muller, was not indicted.

The grand jury acted on the indictments in August, but they were not made public until they were served this week.

Smith, 70, and Lacy, 25, are being held without bond at the Leflore County Jail.

The third suspect, Cordarious Robinson, 22, is out on bond. He has been indicted for conspiracy to commit murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Although Smith has been writing the Commonwealth regularly during his five-month incarceration, his attorney, William Bell of Ridgeland, has continued to decline to discuss his client’s case.

“The only thing I can say is what we’ve said from the beginning,” Bell said Wednesday. “Everything that we have to say about it will be in court.”

There are signs, though, that the notably eccentric oncologist plans to put up a spirited defense. Two out-of-state private investigators have been in Greenwood this week compiling evidence for Smith’s defense team.

According to the police investigation, the conspiracy began with Smith offering to pay $20,000 to Keaira Byrd to kill Abraham, toward whom the physician has had a long-running animosity.

Byrd and Lacy allegedly contacted Abraham and told him of the plot, offering to sell the attorney an automatic weapon they said had been provided by Smith to carry out the slaying.

Abraham made arrangements to meet the pair at his Market Street office, across from the Leflore County Courthouse. He contacted the Attorney General’s Office requesting investigators to be present, according to authorities. Three were dispatched.

When Byrd and Lacy arrived, Byrd was allegedly wearing a ski mask and holding an assault weapon. An exchange of gunfire took place. Byrd, 23, was killed, and Lacy, 25, was severely injured. One of the attorney general’s agents received a minor wound. Abraham was not injured.

Even though Byrd was killed by the state lawmen, Smith and Lacy have been charged with causing his death by conspiring with him in the assassination plot. The slaying was upgraded to a capital offense because, according to the indictment, it occurred in connection with another felony being committed. The indictment says that Lacy and Byrd committed the crime of burglary in gaining access to Abraham’s office “by the use or subterfuge or trick.”

Robinson’s charges result from a separate alleged conspiracy with Smith to kill Abraham.

According to the indictment, sometime between Nov. 1, 2011, and the April 28 shootout, Smith agreed to pay Robinson an undisclosed sum of money to obtain a firearm or firearms that could be used by an unnamed hitman to kill Abraham.

On or about April 25, according to the weapons charge, Robinson was unlawfully in possession of two firearms — a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun and a .357 Magnum revolver pistol. Neither is the weapon with which Byrd was allegedly armed.

Arraignments, in which the accused appear in court to hear the charges against them, are scheduled for Oct. 22....” Rest of article