Crime & Safety

Attorney Charged With Wife Hit Bid Wants Free Psych Eval

A Frankfort attorney charged with trying to put a hit on his wife wants the county to pay for a psychological evaluation.

By Joseph Hosey

A Frankfort lawyer charged with trying to hire someone to kill his estranged wife wants the county to foot the bill for a psychological evaluation.

The attorneys representing Robert Gold-Smith presented the matter in court Monday and will argue its merits Thursday.

Gold-Smith's legal troubles started when he allegedly beat his wife in a courthouse hallway in front of numerous witnesses. According to a psychiatrist's report, Gold-Smith, 51, said he "blacked out" during the November 2010 attack.

The couple had been in court together for their divorce.

The murder-for-hire case stems from detectives reportedly catching Gold-Smith asking a fellow county jail inmate to kill his wife. According to court papers, Gold-Smith discussed paying for the murder of his wife with at least five inmates during his time in jail.

No less than three of these inmates met with detectives and offered to wear a wire while talking to Gold-Smith about murdering his wife. At least one of them did just that, according to police reports, and donned a recording device to catch Gold-Smith's statements.

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The indictment against Gold-Smith identifies only one former fellow inmate as the target of his murder-for-hire overtures. That inmate, 49-year-old Brian McDaniel of Morris, was most recently jailed on a charge of domestic battery and a warrant from the Department of Corrections.

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