Officer to Stand Trial in Murder for Hire Fraud
A Santa Monica police officer accused of posing as a hit man and stealing a $7,500 payment for the proposed killing was ordered Monday to stand trial on six criminal counts.
Kenneth Maurice Scott, 42, was ordered to appear July 31 at the Airport Branch Courthouse on three counts of computer access fraud and one count each of grand theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy to defraud.
Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Elden Fox ruled that there is sufficient evidence to require Scott, a Carson resident who worked as a Santa Monica patrol officer for 3 1/2 years, to stand trial.
Scott was arrested in February and accused of accepting cash from Sheila Holden Hamilton, 43, to kill an auto-repair shop owner. Hamilton had earlier embezzled $33,000 from the shop owner’s account at the bank where she worked, police said.
Prosecutors said Scott pocketed his contract-killer’s fee after he told Hamilton he was a law enforcement officer and warned her not to hurt anyone.
Scott and Hamilton, who faces a charge of solicitation of murder and five counts of grand theft, are both free on $50,000 bail.
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