The youngest of four men accused of being involved in a domestic murder-for-hire case pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a Baton Rouge courtroom Monday, according to court records.
Skyler Williams, 25, was slated to be tried for first-degree murder this week at the 19th Judicial District Courthouse for his role in the April 11, 2015 slaying of Tahereh Ghassemi. Instead, he opted to plead guilty to manslaughter, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore confirmed.Â
Baton Rouge auto dealer Hamid Ghassemi, the victim’s ex-husband, orchestrated the killing following a bitter divorce that resulted in him paying a $1 million settlement, police said. Hamid Ghassemi, 72, paid a $10,000 bounty for Williams, Tyler Ashpaugh and Daniel Humberto Richter to abduct and kill his 54-year-old former wife, Baton Rouge detectives alleged in an arrest warrant. The woman’s body was found in a shallow grave in a heavily wooded area of St. Helena Parish in May 2015, a month after she disappeared from her Baton Rouge home.
Ghassemi’s trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 7, according to court records. A state judge set Williams’ sentencing hearing to be held two days later.
It’s not clear if Williams will testify against Ghassemi. Moore said the terms of Williams’ plea agreement were sealed. Prosecutors are recommending Williams be sentenced to 30 years, the district attorney indicated.
All four defendants in the case were indicted on first-degree murder, a capital felony that carries a mandatory life sentence upon conviction.Â
Williams, who was 17 at the time, became the third accused suspect to plead guilty. Ashpaugh, of Denham Springs, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2018 in exchange for a future 40-year prison stint. He agreed to testify against Hamid Ghassemi and his other co-defendants as part of the deal.
Ashpaugh, 28, died Jan. 27 inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where he was being held while he awaited sentencing.Â
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