An Indiana woman who poisoned and strangled a man to death has been sentenced to 115 years in prison by a judge.
Heidi Marie Littlefield, 42, was handed a total sentence of 115 years in state prison on Friday morning in Hamilton County by Judge Michael A. Casati.
Court documents show that Littlefield received sentences of 60 years for murder; 35 years for conspiring to commit murder resulting in death; and 20 years for conspiring to murder but not resulting in death for the poisonings. The judge set those sentences to run consecutively and gave Littlefield credit for 748 days of time served.
In a scheme to kill Francis Kelley, 46, Littlefield allegedly recruited her older daughter, Logan Marie Runyon and Runyon’s lover, Robert Walker.
Littlefield attacked Kelley at his home in mid-January 2021 and strangled him to death with his favorite tie after she and her daughter poisoned the victim’s food on three occasions, including his oatmeal.
A custody dispute was the cause of the murder. Littlefield’s younger daughter, who was 2 years old at the time, was raised by Kelley.
According to police in Carmel, Indiana, a hearing was set for January 27, 2021 because Kelley alleged Littlefield was “violating the parental time order.”
He said Littlefield “would stay in his house during his parenting time” and that she was refusing to allow him to pick up their daughter.
After the crime, a relative said to investigators that Littlefield even made comments about the victim’s death. The relative reportedly remarked, quoting Littlefield, “‘He’s better off dead,’ ‘I didn’t mean to kill him last time,’ and ‘I might as well claim I did it and just say I’m insane and pregnant.'”
Littlefield also had a backup plan
According to reports, Littlefield allegedly accused Kelley of being violent and said that “she would be failing her daughter if the dude didn’t end up dead.”
Littlefield also gave Walker, her daughter’s boyfriend, $2,500 to hire a hitman as part of the scheme.
In exchange for her guilty plea to conspiracy to commit murder, Runyon testified against her mother. According to testimony given by Runyon, she and Walker spent the money meant to hire the hitman on hotels, clothing and narcotics.
Runyon was questioned by a prosecutor about why she helped her mother in the murder scheme. She reportedly replied, “Because I love her and because we have never truly had a good relationship.”
Littlefield and Runyon hatched a scheme to get fentanyl from Ohio drug dealers.
Runyon testified that they poisoned Kelley’s food three times. They also poisoned his takeout miso soup and his oatmeal.
According to the authorities, Kelley suspected something was wrong with the oatmeal before his death and that Littlefield was responsible after a troubling text exchange between them.
Littlefield has been given a total of 115 years in prison. Runyon received a 26-year sentence for her part in the crime. Walker admitted to conspiring to commit murder and was given a 10-year prison term.
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Please keep Runyon and Littlefield locked up, for a long long time.