Convicted sex offender charged in murder-for-hire plot against victim's family SCSO

Leland Harper, a 63-year-old convicted sex offender, has been charged with attempting to hire a hit man to kill the family of a child he abused in Oregon. He was convicted in December 2023 on multiple counts of child sex crimes and is currently serving a 25-year sentence while appealing his conviction. According to a Sarasota County Sheriff's Office affidavit, Harper believed that eliminating the victim's family would help him in his ongoing court cases. The informant who reported Harper's plot indicated that he wanted the murder to appear as a murder-suicide, including sending false confessions from the victim's father. Harper allegedly described himself as a "stone cold sociopath" during conversations about the plan.

Investigators created a bank account for the case, and Harper's wife reportedly transferred nearly $30,000 as payment for the murders. In addition to the murder solicitation charges, Harper is also facing multiple counts of sexual battery on a victim under 12 years old in Sarasota County. This shocking case highlights the extreme lengths some individuals may go to in an attempt to evade justice.