Couple Held in Contract Killing of Son

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — An elderly Pompano Beach couple were charged Thursday with arranging the contract killing of their only son to collect a $70,000 insurance policy, Broward County sheriff’s officials said.

Theron Morris, 76, and his wife, Leila Mary Morris, 62, were being held without bond in the Broward County Jail, charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 8 slaying of their son, Christopher Morris, 42.

George Crolius, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said the couple are accused of hiring their son’s roommate, Martin Wayne Rector, to carry out the killing.

The plot was hatched after Christopher Morris’ scheme to kill his former wife and her 10-year-old daughter for a $35,000 insurance policy fell through.

Crolius said that Christopher Morris and Rector, 34, had planned to commit the murders and divide the insurance money with Theron and Leila Mary Morris. The younger Morris then learned that the insurance policy.

Officials said that Morris walked into his parents’ trailer home on Jan. 8 and was met by Rector, who ordered him to the floor at gunpoint. He was later found shot to death.

Rector was arrested Wednesday.