A Mississippi brother and sister were sentenced Friday for their roles in a murder-for-hire plot.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Mississippi, revealed that Joshua Druid Bryan and Regan Emily Bryan, aged 29 and 30 respectively, were implicated in a plot to hire a hitman to murder their stepfather for financial gain.
Regan Bryan was sentenced to 65 months in prison after admitting to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, while Joshua Bryan received a 120-month sentence for being found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder for hire as well as the actual act of hiring a hitman.
During the trial, Regan confessed that she and her brother had conversations in November 2020 about eliminating their stepfather. Her brother suggested reaching out to a criminal acquaintance to locate a person capable of taking care of the situation, as per court records that dismissed Joshua Bryan’s request for acquittal.
The order highlighted recorded conversations between the pair. During a call on December 8, 2020, Regan mentioned that a recently released felon was coming over, and her brother urged her multiple times to make a “proposal.”
After Regan mentioned the plan to the felon, he notified the FBI and began recording his conversations with the siblings.
In a December 10 parking lot meeting, the informant asked Joshua for approval, and Joshua replied that he should “do what he saw fit.”
The complaint stated that Regan agreed to “take care of him for the rest of his life” after the informant offered to carry out the murder of her stepfather.
The next day, the informant warned the stepfather about the plot. Over the following months, the informant met with Regan and Joshua, recording conversations where they detailed their plan to kill the stepfather.
On January 7, Regan met with the informant and an undercover agent posing as a hitman. Regan provided additional instructions for the planned hit by writing them down, then destroyed the notes afterward, according to Law&Crime.
That same day, the siblings vented about their stepfather and the increasing legal conflicts with him during a call captured on Regan’s cellphone.
Police apprehended the pair shortly after.
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[Feature Photo via Virginia State Pokice]
