Durham woman accused of trying to hire hit man to kill husband

Teressa Michelle Holman, 39, of 2803 Framer Lane, was charged last Thursday with solicitation to commit murder. She was initially placed in the Durham County jail under a $2 million bond, but the bond was lowered Tuesday to $200,000.

An informant tipped off investigators with the Durham County Sheriff's Office last Wednesday that a woman was looking for someone to kill her husband before Christmas, authorities said. An undercover detective then posed as a hit man and recorded conversations with the woman.

The woman asked the deputy to kill her husband and provided him with information on where her husband would be at various times.

"It was very, very definite what she wanted done," said Lt. Stan Harris of the Durham County Sheriff's Office. "She did have a couple of reasons. She did make it clear about a couple of motives."

Harris declined to provide details on those motives.

Investigators arrested Holman when she showed up in the parking lot of the Walmart store on Glenn School Road, where the would-be hit man was supposed to receive a partial payment to carry out the crime, authorities said.

"You hear about this stuff elsewhere, but this is the first time in going on 22 years of my law enforcement career that I've worked (a murder-for-hire case)," Harris said.

Investigators said Rodney Holman had no clue about a possible plot to kill him.

"At first, it was one of unbelief, but as we talked with him, it slowly sank in," Harris said. "He was, you know, hurt, a little upset. He ran the gamut of emotions."

Defense attorney Butch Williams declined to comment Tuesday.