Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Beloved Lady Kid Doc Hires Hitman, Gets Lengthy Jail Time

Episode Date: September 28, 2024

Dr. Stephanie Russell loses custody of her two children when it comes to light during court proceedings, that Russell has been coaching her children to lay claims of abuse against her ex-husband. The evidence was revealed to be video recordings of the children practicing. Russell then tries to hire a hitman, but the hitman is undercover FBI. Now, Stephanie M. Russell pleads guilty to two counts of a federal indictment.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: Kathleen Murphy - Family Attorney (North Carolina), NCDomesticlaw.com; X: @RalDivorceLaw   Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist; X: @carynpsych, Facebook: "Caryn Stark"  Paul Szych – Former Police Commander; Author: “StopHimFromKillingThem” on Amazon Kindle; X: @WorkplaceThreat; Screen Actors Guild-Eligible Actor  Alexis Tereszcuk – CrimeOnline Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker at Lead Stories; X: @swimmie2009 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Did a beloved lady pediatrician, specializing, of course, in treating children, hire a hitman after she loses custody? And the last days, a courtroom showdown. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. This woman actually has a medical degree and was beloved in the community as a pediatrician. Everybody wanted their child to go to Dr. Stephanie Russell. Well, little did they know, this woman talked to people on her staff about hiring a hitman in order to kill her husband.

This after evidence comes to light that this pediatrician also tried voodoo. That's right. Black magic. She reportedly consulted with spiritualists, euphemistically called, to put a deadly spell on her husband. Spiritualists, voodoo princess and princesses, that promised death success rates 85%. Hold on just, just a moment. Okay. Hiring a hit man is one thing, but trying to use voodoo and death spells on your husband, that is a whole nother thing. Admitted into evidence, a series of WhatsApp text messages showing the doctor tried to enlist services of would-be occult practitioners to kill her ex-husband with a, quote, death spell, end quote. Then she ended up paying a fake assassin half a retainer.

Oh, this is after her attempts with the supernatural. This is a doctor with a medical degree. She writes on the WhatsApp to the occult leaders, quote, what is your success rate, your price, your guarantee? She asks in one message with a flurry of questions. One princess of the occult identified only as Mama replies, death success rates are 85%. And then tells Russell, quote, the price depends on the number of people. What? You want dead? The occultist offers a 100% guarantee or money back. Russell, the pediatric doctor actually writes, do you use sacrifice? Oh, dear Lord in heaven. To which, quote, Mama, end quote, responds, no. At $580 per death spell,

Dr. Russell asked the voodoo princess if payment can be made after the death. The Voodoo Princess replies she only works on a cash basis. Okay, let's get out of voodoo and focus on the hitman. This is what we know. Let's go, Jackie. Hit it. Dr. Stephanie Russell is a beloved pediatrician with

over 3,000 patients in her practice. Kids Life Pediatrics website shows a child's dream office. Think Disney Overload with promises of things like a live-finding Nemo fish tank. Russell, a graduate from the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has been a licensed doctor for nearly 25 years. Now, you heard about her kid-friendly workspace, her office. Well, listen to this. Russell and her ex-husband, Morgan Stanley financial planner Rick Crabtree, have been in a contentious custody battle for over two years. Allegations of abuse were leveled against the husband and allegations of a murder plot levied against Stephanie Russell. In 2019, a detective with the Louisville Metro Police Department was assigned to investigate Crabtree.

During that investigation, Crabtree told the detective that Russell wanted him dead so that she could take full custody of their two children. Crabtree's attorney gave police a sworn statement from the couple's former nanny, which said that she, identified as KS, had been approached by Dr. Russell on multiple occasions about getting rid of Crabtree. KS assumed Russell was joking until Russell specifically asked if KS knew really bad people. The FBI interviewed various people about the plot, but none could corroborate Crabtree's allegations, and the case was closed. Soon after, Russell's claims of abuse were found to be unsubstantiated.

Crabtree was awarded custody of the children, with Russell getting twice-weekly supervised visits. Well, there's nothing to clinch your custody case like trying to hire a hitman. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now about this beloved female pediatrician out of Kentucky, Kathleen Murphy, family lawyer joining us out of North Carolina. She's at ncdomesticlaw.com. Renowned psychologist joining us from Manhattan, Karen Stark at karenstark.com. That's Karen with a C. Paul Zyke, special guest joining us, former police commander in Albuquerque, author of Stop Him From Killing Them on Amazon.

You can find him on Twitter at Workplace Threat. But first, to Alexis Tereszczuk, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. You were just hearing from our friends at CrimeOnline. But Alexis Tereschuk, let's just start with hiring a hitman. I mean, I know we're going to have to backtrack and talk about this mom losing custody of her children. And you know what? You got to bend over backwards and do some sort of a contortion for a mother to lose custody. OK, we all know that. Alexis Tereschuk, you have a baby as I like to call him.

I have a baby. And as many times as I would probably like to do my husband harm, I would never jeopardize being with the twins. Ever. Never. Plus, I mean, you know David. He's very lovable. So, Alexis Tereschuk, how do we get to hiring a hitman? What evidence is there that she, this beloved pediatrician, wanted to hire a hitman? Now, what did I hear about co-workers? So, she actually tried to hire a hitman two different times. The

first time, she kept talking to her nanny. The couple had a nanny, her husband, the pediatrician's husband. Alexis, hold on just a moment. I mean, really, Kathleen Murphy? You want to hire a hitman? Murder? Bloody, stinking, gooey, sticky murder? And you go to, of course, Hitman Central, your nanny? Really? Stupidest, stupidest, stupidest move ever.

This woman has a medical degree. She is not an idiot. She's got a practice of about 3,000 children. She's rolling in money. What? A nanny? She's not stupid. Clearly, she's a psychopath.

She thinks that her, she's not connected. Obviously, she's missing some links. I don't know how. Okay, now wait a minute. When you say she's not connected, to me that means you don't know anybody in a gang or a mob if you're not connected. Obviously, she's missing some links. I don't know how. Okay, now wait a minute. When you say she's not connected, to me that means you don't know anybody in a gang or a mob if you're not connected. What do you mean? No, she's not connected mentally. She's not all there. For her to be able to think that nobody is going to speak about this is ludicrous. Everybody loves to talk, especially if there's a custody trial and they want to share the gossip, which they do.

And they will come into court. And that's exactly what this nanny did. She came into court and gave a deposition and spoke about how she had come to her and approached her with a murder for hire wish. You know, Kathleen Murphy, I was expecting a little more from you then. She's not connected. Guys, hold on just a moment. I want you to hear. I'm looking for proof because it's going to take a lot of proof for me to believe that this mom, this mother,

this beloved pediatrician that has a client list of over 3,000 children that everybody loved, they all love her, would try to commit murder. And that's what hiring a hitman is. You're committing murder. In fact, it's even worse under the criminal code because murder for hire is an aggravating circumstance under which the state can seek the death penalty. That is not true in every bar brawl that ends in a death. But this is murder with a pecuniary or money interest involved. And that is taken even more seriously by the criminal codes. Take a listen to our cut 7C, our friends at WLKY. New documents show Russell used the code FLOWERS

in text messages when discussing the murder with two nurses at her practice. One of the employees told Russell in December she knew someone who would commit the crime. According to text messages, Russell wanted the murder to take place before Christmas. Documents

show when that employee told Russell the alleged hitman had died and couldn't commit the hit, Russell then asked if the employee would pull the trigger themselves. That employee said no and soon after left the practice. I guess so. I guess she did leave the practice. I mean, Paul Zeit, former police commander

in Albuquerque and author, I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in one nanny that said, yeah, she told me she wanted her husband dead. Did I know anybody that could kill him? No, that's not enough to make a case. But now I have an employee that says she was approached by the defendant, the female pediatrician, and when that hitman didn't work out, she asked, well, could you do it yourself? Can you kill him?

Well, the woman or man says no and leaves the practice. Now we're cooking with gas, Paul Zeit. Now I feel like we might have an investigation going. Absolutely. When you reach a point in an investigation where you have corroborating witnesses that have direct evidence, things that they've seen themselves or heard themselves, who have nothing to gain from the situation by telling the truth, absolutely, you now are starting to build a foundation to move this case forward.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Karen Stark joining me, New York psychologist. Of course, the person left the practice because not only did she pressure the employee to find a hitman, find a hitman. Then the hitman goes and dies. Then she asked the employee to pull the trigger for Pete's sake. Two. Two of the nurses that work for her, Nancy. She had a code with them. Oh, I forgot that part. She used the code word

flowers in text messages when discussing the murder. And you're right, Karen Stark, not one, but two nurses were talking about murder. And you know, Nancy, that's how in these kind of situations, they get caught all the time because who do they know that they can turn to to find somebody to you know do away with the person they're trying to kill they have to go to people that are close to them because they're not associating with people that would be hit men but the irony here is though karen stark i mean you're a health care professional. You're asking a nurse who I know doctors have to take the Hippocratic oath where you vow to, quote, do no harm. And I assume nurses take a similar oath. You're asking a nurse, not one, but two nurses to murder somebody. I mean,

that's hard for me to believe, which I'm actually starting to buy into Kathleen Murphy. Zany, dare I say it. She's a veteran trial lawyer, tough as nails, that she's, quote, not connected. I mean, Karen Stark, how many times have we talked about that idiot OJ Simpson? About a million?

And the possibility that it was all just a big police cover-up? Do you really think, Karen Stark, that all those cops have stayed quiet, silent, quiet as the grave for all these years when they could have sold out for a big book deal and made millions of dollars in granting movie rights, if there had been a cover-up, if there had been a conspiracy, people cannot keep their yaps shut. We've discussed it a million times, Karen Stark, for whatever reason. So there's no way these nurses were not going to blab. Well, of course, that's the whole point, Nancy. I mean, there's no judgment involved in this.

And no conscience, as we know, because not thinking twice about the idea of killing somebody. I mean, that's somebody who could, you know, just go point to somebody in the street and say, why don't we shoot them? Because she has no conscience. It doesn't matter. And her judgment is so off. It's a little scary because she is a medical professional. People will talk. Karen Stark, you've been with me from the beginning when I dreamed of a family.

And then when I got pregnant, I think you were in on the secret for several months before other people knew. I mean, I would want to kill anybody that got between me and the twins, but I certainly wouldn't say it out loud for Pete's sake. But I mean, nothing, nothing can make me more angry than if this were to happen to me. Take a listen to our cut 1A, our friends at WLKY. Russell lost custody of her children in 2020 and was only allowed supervised visits. The documents also explain her ex-husband's concerns about safety, saying he testified that Russell had, quote, made statements that she would kill him in his sleep. That concern was also echoed by a court-appointed doctor who stated Russell could, quote, escalate her behavior and presents a high risk for violence, with the doctor phrasing it as, quote, uncomfortably high. Harrelson believes the evidence was mounting against Russell.

They finally did a warrant on her phone and found text messages or other evidence that corroborated the first attempt to hire a hitman. They found all these videos in the phone where she was having the kids practice making false allegations against her. If they didn't say it right, she'd start over again. So she turned these videos over to authorities, but all the failed videos were still on her phone. Oh, dear Lord in heaven. This is a medical doctor that graduated with high grades at the Louisville Medical School. And she kept the videos on her phone of her children practicing a script, accusing their dad of wrongdoing. Wow.

I'm drinking from the fire hydrant here. I just don't even know. It's more than I could take at once. I don't know where to start. But I'm going to start at the beginning of what you were hearing from our friends at WLKY. First of all, she loses sole custody. She lost custody of her children and only got supervised visits. First of all, let me start there.

To you, Kathleen Murphy, family lawyer joining us out of North Carolina, explain what is a supervised visit. Typically, a supervised visit is professionally supervised. There are people that are paid and they can report to the court any violations of the conditions of the supervision. And typically, they're for short periods of time. There are two types of supervised visitation locations. One can be a supervised visitation center, and the children are inside, and it's pretty weird. The other one is where people will go to public parks or libraries or museums or swim pools, and the parents can have more of a normal experience with their children. My understanding is that the woman, the doctor in question here, had supervised visitation at her office, which could be okay since the children may have been familiar with the location, but it was inside.

And it was only two times a week, which is really, really a harsh type of supervised visitation order. It's a harsh order. Supervised visits. Kathleen Murphy joining me out of North Carolina. Does the case of Josh Powell ring a bell to you? Yes. The social worker was bringing the children, though, to his house where he had control. And that's why they do the supervised centers and people are patted down and they have to go through a security.

They're not allowed to bring gifts and they are very controlled. And for Josh Powell to be able to have those children supervised by a social worker at his own home may have been a fatal mistake. It was a fatal mistake. Josh Powell murdered his two little boys during a supervised visit because the social worker let the children run into the home. And then Josh Powell slammed the door, hacked them with an axe and set the home on fire and blew into the home, and then Josh Powell slammed the door, hacked them with an ax, and set the home on fire, blew up the home. He had already murdered their mother, Susan Cox Powell. Cops never did anything about it, even though the boys drew pictures of mommy in a trunk, a car trunk, with the boys and dad driving the car.

That's a whole other can of worms. There's no doubt that he murdered his wife. But he was never prosecuted, so he was still out and somehow got supervised visits with his children. That's what a supervised visit is. You're either sitting in the room with a court official watching you with your children, or you are somewhere in public like a park or a McDonald's, or in this case, the pediatrician could only have two supervised visits a week with her children. Karen Stark, do you know how crazy that would make me?

Even when I have to go out of town to travel, which I have to do a lot for various criminal investigations, I go crazy. I have a rule. I try to never stay away over one night. The children are fine, Karen Stark, because when I'm not at home, they get to order pizza and watch TV during dinner while holding their cell phone, staring at it. See, none of that would happen with if I were home. Absolutely not. It's veggies around the table where you interact. You say your prayer first and you talk about your day and your next day or anything else

you happen to think of. Oh, all that just goes to hell in a handbasket if I go out of town. But they're fine. It's me. I suffer. I hate it to be away from the children. Can you even imagine? You've been like that from the very beginning, Nancy.

Right from the start, you would not spend a night away from them. Awful. I can attest to that. Scruciating. And I mean, finally, by the end of it, my son, I do yet another FaceTime. He's like, hi, mom. This is like the 10th FaceTime we've done. But anyway, how mad do you think this mom is?

She's so smart. She's so educated. And somehow she's painted herself into the corner of two supervised visits a week at her office with her children. That's it. And that's because she's a danger to those children, Auntie. She's not among my kids. No, I'm asking you how mad did that make her? It's making me mad just saying it. Obviously, she was mad to begin with.

She was this guy then. That's right. Right from the start. Who's jumping in? This is Kathleen Murphy, and she was mad that she had supervised a visitation, but as Karen said, she was mad before that. She was crazy before that, and that's what led up to it. You know, you of all people, Kathleen Murphy, cannot throw around the term crazy.

At will, willy-nilly. You know, you're you of all people, Kathleen Murphy, cannot throw around the term crazy at will. Willy nilly. Crazy means something under the law, under the old McNaughton test that we brought over to our country from Great Britain. All right. It means, did you know right from wrong at the time of the act? That is crazy. That is insane. She clearly knew what she was doing was wrong. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We go on to a court-appointed doctor who stated her behavior escalated and the doctor found it was, quote, uncomfortably high that Russell would spin out after these text messages were found on her phone

and the videos. Alexis Tereshak, tell me about the videos on her phone. Was she trying to frame the husband? So, yes. As their divorce began, she accused her husband of sexually abusing the children. They were really young because at this point now, I think they're four and two. So this was a couple of years ago. They're just little babies. And she had videos. She'd taken videos on her phone of them that she gave to the authorities where the children explained how they had been abused by the dad and little kid version. But also on the phone were videos where she was coaching

the children. So she would say to the little child, the little child would give a statement, you know, this is what happened to me. Daddy did this to me. She's like, wait, wait, you're not, you're not doing it right. Let's back up. Let's try again. Have to say it this way. Oh, dear Lord in heaven. And so she had videos. She didn't even delete those videos. They were still on her phone of her prompting the children and leading them and making them say these things. So that was also given to the judge. Paul Zeit joining me, former police commander and Albuquerque and author of Stop Him From Killing Them on Amazon.

Man, the cops just got handed a case on a silver platter. You might as well put that on top of the Christmas tree and open it up on Christmas morning to have all that one search of her phone reveals all that. It's a lot harder. Usually we don't have things served up to us so easily. We've got tons of software investigative means to find things that have been erased, but things that are actually still on the phone, phones that are still, you know, literally just have the data there. You just have to look for it. We don't get it so easily, especially when you're looking at something as serious as this. And I think that speaks to another point that she just literally, you know, the whole the whole issue of having restricted access to her children.

And we've seen this in cases with domestic violence and stalking over the years is that that's a conduct inhibitor. It's something that makes people go a little more out of their mind, a little more extreme and take more risk to do harm. What did you call that? A conduct inhibitor. A conduct inhibitor. Yeah, it's one of the things in my book. What is that? That are, that's things that I have a list of them in my book that when you remove them from rational people or even irrational people, and especially when you remove them in groups,

like custody, status in the community, ability to take care of your children, you know, upcoming restraining order hearings. There's a whole list of them that in my, you know, 10 years of work in those cases that I found caused people to do unexpected things. Right. You're starting to sound like the crazy old guys in trading places, you know, with Eddie Murphy. Yeah, essentially. You take away somebody's money, their credit, their home, their family, their loved ones, their status, their position, and they start committing crimes. Okay, Dan Aykroyd did not start. Actually, he did start committing crimes. Never mind.

So you're saying conduct inhibitors are when you take away what people value the most, they are more likely to commit a crime. Is that what you're saying, Paul Zyke? Absolutely. Not just a crime, especially a crime of passion, a crime where you, you know, somebody gets stabbed 58 times instead of twice. Things that are really out of the box, things that, you know, people go, oh, they were such a quiet neighbor, quiet this and that. And then we didn't expect any of this. Well, you remove enough conduct inhibitors from people and you can just about get anybody to do anything if you remove enough of them, especially if it's done quickly. Paul Zyke is with me and he's saying

that this information is in his book, Stop Him From Killing Them on Amazon. You know, I see what you're saying and I think you're right, Paul Zyke. You take away the chance of her being with her children and she goes haywire. But when was it, Alexis Therese Chuck, was it before or after she lost? It had to be before she lost custody that she was getting the children to create these videos accusing their dad of sex molestation? It was before she lost custody. That was their divorce started, and that was her attempt to have full custody of the children. Oh, okay.

I see what you mean. So she was threatened with losing custody custody and she started doing these videos. So Paul's like theory about conduct inhibitors is actually correct in this case. Guys, take a listen to our cut for our friends at WAVE. Russell was the one to lose custody in 2020 after a court appointed representative for the children claimed she was coaching the kids into making allegations about her ex-husband and, in May 2018, that she tried to hire a hitman to kill him, according to court records. Russell's attorney called the allegation preposterous in a lawsuit against the judge, writing in this complaint, there have never been any criminal charges. They would come four years later when the feds set up a sting. On May 15th, 2022, officials say Russell reached out to a hitman and agreed to pay him $7,000 to kill her ex-husband.

On May 18th, officers say she put half the cash in her drop box at her office and promised to pay the rest once the murder was complete. According to court records, the next day she was behind bars because agents say the person Russell thought was a hitman was an undercover cop. Of course he was. You can't swing a stick around your head without hitting an FBI agent posing as a hitman. So not only does she leave the videos on her phone coaching her children to make claims of sex molestation by dad, reach out to her nanny and two of her nurses in her practice to hire a hitman or commit the murder themselves. It just keeps getting worse. Now, what did I hear about a previous attempt to hire a hitman?

Take a listen to our friends at CrimeOnline.com. Our cut 7G. The investigation into a second murder-for-hire plot came after a Louisville Metro detective contacted the FBI. The detective had been contacted by a local private investigator who had potential information, and that information came from someone who worked at Kids Life Pediatrics. The PI learned Russell had approached several employees about killing her ex-husband, and then the PI urged the employee to contact the FBI. The informant met with agents saying that Russell had been asking for help in killing Crabtree for the last 10 months.

One of the nurses provided screenshots of text conversations with her boss, Dr. Stephanie Russell, discussing delivery of Christmas flowers, Russell's code word for murder. A screenshot of the exchange, in part, went like this. Are you still looking for flowers? I actually do need flowers, Russell replied. Oh, nice. Can I drop by your house tonight, tomorrow night, Friday night, Saturday, Sunday? Ultimately, Russell and the nurse met in person, but the nurse was wired for audio and video, courtesy of the FBI. Yeah, you don't want to say no to an FBI agent, if possible.

I mean, Kathleen Murphy joining us, veteran trial lawyer out of North Carolina. Kathleen Murphy, so there's not just this attempt to hire a hitman. There's another, a first attempt to hire a hitman? There were three total attempts in my reading. First, she wanted the nurse, or first she wanted her nanny to help her hire a hit man. Then the nurse in her practice and then the second nurse in her practice, because the first nurse said that the hit man that she was going to send her way had died. And then that nurse left the practice. So she went to the second nurse in the practice. I mean, the evidence continues to mount. I'm just curious.

Paul Zyke, former police commander in Albuquerque, the FBI must have a whole wing of agents that are posing as hitmen. It's something they specialize in. I mean, they're really good at it. It's one of the, you know, just like economic crimes type of thing where they can follow the, you know, the breadcrumbs, if you will. A lot of these things cross state lines. And, you know, and generally speaking, there is some complexity to it. But, yes, they have a lot of field agents that are highly skilled at this. They're looking, you know, the first time they looked at this, you know, it's not something you see a whole lot of, unfortunately. Well, I should say, fortunately,

when it was brought to their attention, they kind of closed the case. Well, the second time around, it was enough to get their attention. And they got lucky because if it would have happened after the first time, they would have been, you know, left holding the bag because they had some of the information before. But obviously, the second time they were given the case, they grabbed onto it with both hands. That is not giving me a lot of confidence that they just, quote, as you said, kind of closed the case the first time she tried to hire a hitman. Hey, Alexis Tereschuk, this happens to me at the dentist and I hope my dentist who crazy story Jackie he I hung him out and he was doing something he goes you know I was on one of your juries right? I'm like really? Then then suddenly it all came rushing back to me. I can't even remember what he

wore as a juror. He wore a tan pullover. It looked like cashmere, v-neck sweater with a kind of a brown shirt underneath. He's perfectly dressed, perfectly everything. This dentist, he's awesome, but he'll do whatever he's doing. And then it has to wait sometimes. And I can sit there. I can't move. I can't get on my phone or anything else. I can hear the dental assistants talking. And they're always talking about like their vacation or this or that. It's never anything incendiary. They're not talking about other patients.

They're just passing the time of day. Don't you know these nurses were all talking about she wants to hire a hitman. She wants to kill Crabtree, the husband. You know they were all talking about it, right? Well, and then what they would have had to have done, the one says, well, I'm so sorry. The hitman that I tried to get you died. There's nothing like, oh, my gosh, how was he killed? What happened there?

Anything like that? That is also a huge red flag. Like, did they talk to the nurses, talk to each other and say, how can we get out of this? And she's like, just tell him he died. And then you'll get out of it because you think, oh, well he died. Okay. How many people know more than one hit man? It's absolutely crazy. And that she kept doing it again. The first time she was investigated for it. So she must have known that they were on to her. But yet so arrogant, so confident in her own ability to trick law enforcement and the judges and her ex-husband, who is a very smart finance guy, and that she could still hire a hitman to do it. Can we talk about him for a moment. Can you imagine how his whole life would have been ruined with these allegations of molesting his own children? I mean, does that bother anybody but me? Kathleen Murphy,

you're a family lawyer, and that is certainly a euphemism because family law, it sounds all cozy, is actually down and dirty. Have you ever seen that where one party tries to get the children to fabricate allegations against the other parent? I do. But Nancy, you know, what's worse is when I have a client who believes that there's something going on and they're damned if they do and they're damned if they don't, if they don't say anything and they have these realistic concerns, you know, that's not good. And then if they say something, then they're seen in this light of she's just making it up to get leverage in a custody case. It's very difficult.

But people would always wonder, did he do it? Did he molest his children? You know, I was just making a note to talk to you about Kathleen Murphy, high-profile lawyer joining me out of North Carolina to prove a conspiracy. You have to have more than just shop talk. You can't just, hey, I want to kill him. You know, a hit man. You have to make what is called under the law an overt act.

You actually have to do something. Otherwise, you could just say at trial, yeah, I dreamed about it. I talked about it. I knew it was wrong. I have to do something. Otherwise, you could just say at trial, yeah, I dreamed about it. I talked about it. I knew it was wrong. I'd never do it. But here, she's accused of putting nearly $4,000 in a drop box to pay the hitman. And under the law, that is an overt act. Is it not, Kathleen Murphy? Not only putting the money in there, but then giving the individual a code to get in that medical lockbox to retrieve the money. That's how they were able to connect it because they didn't have a video of her during the surveillance of her putting the money in the dropbox. But what they had to connect it was that she had provided the code for that individual to remove the money from the drop box. And even wiring the nurse still may not

may have been helpful, but it's still just talk does not a conspiracy make. There has to be that over act. Guys, take a listen to our friend Rachel Droz and our cut six from WHAS. And I actually ran into one parent who was here today trying to pick up his children's medical records. She's been their primary caregiver for six years, so it's just freaky. It's shocking, to say the least, and it's very sad. The FBI arrested Dr. Stephanie Russell last night and charged her with trying to hire someone to murder her ex-husband. Instead of hiring a hitman, Russell actually hired an undercover FBI employee. According to court filings, the Louisville pediatrician works in the Norton Commons neighborhood at Kids Life Pediatrics.

I know several parents in this area that bring their children here, and like I said, I've only heard positive, wonderful things about them. When I went by there, a handwritten closed sign was posted on the door, and when I tried to call, there was no answer. With Dr. Russell, everything was fine. Like, she was pleasant. She was sweet. The girls liked her. Lance Dooley, the dad trying to pick up his kids' medical records,

wasn't able to get in touch with anyone. We're right around the corner, and money drop-offs were happening right around the corner. Like that, that freaks us out. I guess so. Now take a listen to this. After the arrest, she tried valiantly to get a bond and get out. Don't you know that husband was hiding under his bed? Take a listen to our cut 7B, our friends at WHAS. The judge ruled Russell will stay in custody, saying that the evidence presented so far shows she was persistent in her desire to execute that murder for hire plot. Dr. Stephanie Russell faces up to 10 years in prison. Court documents show an employee at Russell's pediatric office came forward,

saying Russell asked several people to help her find someone to kill her ex-husband. Prosecutors argued the nature of the crime and her commitment or reason to keep her in jail. Russell's attorneys argued she'd never been convicted of a crime and needed to be released on home incarceration to keep running her pediatric practice. The judge ultimately said Russell needed to stay in custody, believing she could be a danger. In an affidavit, texts between Russell and a witness show her seeking information about hiring a hitman, contacting the witness several times over the course of months. Central to this case as well, Russell's contentious divorce, during which she accused her ex-husband of abuse. Court documents show an investigation found no evidence and he was granted custody.

To Alexis Tereschuk and the rest of the panel, jump in. Remember, this is not a tea party at High Grove. Jump in when you have a thought. I'm looking at her mugshot and she is actually wearing her scrubs, her doctor's smock. I guess they arrested her right there at her practice. So Alexis Tereschuk, jump. I was going to ask where the case stands, Alexis, so get that question in your mind. Go ahead, Kathleen.

They may be stacking some charges on her because of the fake videos and causing false testimony in court. They can have many more charges on this individual aside from the murder for hire. The only place she can go because she is caught red-handed is to plead some kind of a mother insanity that the thought of losing her children pushed her over the edge. In the last days, a beloved lady doctor specializing in pediatrics gets 12 years behind bars. 12 years behind bars. 12 years behind bars. First, she tries a voodoo princess known as Mama. Okay, she wants a death spell. When that apparently goes nowhere, she hires a hitman.

A hitman to murder her ex-husband. Ouch. 12 years in the can, the pen, the big dollhouse for pediatrician Dr. Stephanie Russell. Why? She not only tried to have a death spell put on her husband, she tried to hire a hitman. You know what? There's no telling what kind of voodoo spells and potions this doctor is going to cook up behind bars. Wow. I wonder if she's listening to crime stories right now. Go ahead. Hex me. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.