HOUSTON – A Spring, Texas man who tried twice to hire a hitman to kill his ex-girlfriend in 2019 was sentenced to life in prison after a week-long trial, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Tuesday.
“This predator is a case study in how fast domestic violence can escalate, which is why we take all allegations of domestic violence so seriously,” Ogg said. “Even behind bars, he was a danger to our community.”
Robert Gordon Letourneau, 61, was convicted of solicitation of capital murder by a jury on Monday and then sentenced to life in prison by state District Judge Abigail Anastasio.
Letourneau was repeatedly arrested in 2019 for harassing and assaulting his ex-girlfriend and eventually for trying to hire two hitmen from his cell in the Harris County jail.
He was first arrested in January 2019 for violating a protective order forbidding him from communicating with his ex-girlfriend when they broke up after a six-year relationship. A magistrate judge released him on a $2,000 bond and he was re-arrested in March of that year on charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping for ambushing the same woman by hiding in the backseat of her vehicle. In that case, he held a screwdriver to the woman’s throat and forced her to drive to several ATMs to withdraw money.
He was re-arrested and weeks later, while in the jail, Letourneau tried to hire a fellow inmate to kill the woman. The inmate contacted authorities about the offer, and Letourneau was charged with solicitation of capital murder.
Two months later, another inmate contacted authorities about a second attempt. An undercover officer posing as a hitman met with Letourneau twice in the jail. During their first meeting, Letourneau offered $5,000 worth of auto parts to carry out the hit.
The undercover officer later returned for a second meeting to show Letourneau a staged photo that appeared to show his ex-girlfriend had been shot. Letourneau was so pleased with the “hit” that he hired the undercover officer to kill the witness in his first murder for hire case as well.
Assistant District Attorney Nathan Moss, who prosecuted the case with ADAs Nicci Campbell and Catherine Johnson, said Letourneau was a future danger to his ex-girlfriend and to the community.
“Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence and once you’re in it, is very hard to get away from it,” Moss said. “Not only is it tough to get away but walking away is the most dangerous time. When people are trying to escape from bad situations, that’s when things turn deadly.”
