Office workers charged with conspiracy to murder annoying
co-worker
By Jason Hays, THG News
Indianapolis, IN--Seventeen employees of the Cooley Mortgage Company were
arrested by the FBI and charged this week for trying to hire a hit man to murder
a co-worker.
Luckily for loan officer Margaret Howard, 54 of Greenwood, her co-workers failed
in their attempt to kill her. The loan officers, accountants, and receptionists
who made up the group who wanted to kill Howard were foiled when they mistakenly
hired an undercover police officer posing as the would-be assassin.
Arrested in connection to the plot were John R. Dorsch, Amanda K. Wilson,
Jennifer S. Stratman, Timothy P. Weiss, Blake B. McCarthy, Kevin J. Williams,
Andrea M. Williams, Rodney J. Galmish, Gerald L. Thomas, and Maria S. Lopez, all
of Indianapolis; Tyrone L. Green and Eric A. Abel of Greenwood; Julie L. Hancock
of Mooresville; Kelli J. Rodman of Plainfield; Mike S. Reed of Fishers; Joshua
C. Ritticher of Carmel; and Shelly K. Nagy of Zionsville.
The arrest of the entire staff effectively closed Cooley Mortgage until company
president Robert Cooley can hire workers to fill his company’s vacancies.
Apparently Cooley, Margaret Howard’s brother, was the only member of the company
not in on the plot.
Police questioning of the suspects revealed the motive behind the plot: Howard’s
annoying habits and personality grated on everyone’s nerves so badly they
decided it was time to take her out.
“Everyday she would ramble on about the most mundane and stupid things her kids
and grandkids do and show us pictures of those ugly bastards. It was enough to
drive a person mad!” said Galmish. “I tried to avoid her, but it was like she
was everywhere, constantly telling me boring stories and asking me questions
about how to use her computer. What made it worse was she always used baby talk
instead of regular English. This made me want to kill her myself at times.”
The other conspirators agree with Galmish. “It is the little things she would do
that just built up over time. She was always cold so she would turn the
thermostat up to about 80 degrees. This pissed everyone off. She would also wear
terrible looking holiday sweaters with snowmen or pumpkins on them, depending on
the season. I can’t stand that,” said Nagy.
“What sent me over the edge was her corny jokes and high-pitched, screeching
laugh. She laughs at almost anything, things that aren’t even funny,” added
Andrea Williams; “Something had to be done to save us from the daily torture of
working with Marge. With the economy the way it has been, we knew looking for
new jobs was out of the question. Killing her was our only choice.”
Galmish, an accountant and the ringleader of the plot to murder Howard, never
had so much as a speeding ticket before this week’s arrest. He had no idea how
to find a hit man. He used the Internet in hopes of obtaining the services of
one. He typed in “assassins” on Google.com’s search engine, and before long he
thought he found what he was looking for. He began e-mailing an assassin named
Franco Spagnoli.
Little did he know the man on the other end of his e-mails was FBI agent Tom
White.
Once Galmish sent White a check in the mail for $25,000, the FBI had all the
evidence they needed. Galmish was arrested Monday, and by that afternoon the
agency had learned of the plot and arrested the other suspects. Each faces a
sentence of 15-30 years incarceration.
At least a one conspirator has no regrets. “It was worth the risk. Anything is
better than working eight hours a day with Marge Howard,” said Galmish.
