Kill-for-hire defendant asks to withdraw plea

10/2/2004

BOWLING GREEN - A local man who pleaded guilty in August to hiring a hit man to kill his estranged wife has filed a motion to withdraw that plea.

Michael Coyer, 39, was to have been sentenced Monday in Wood County Common Pleas Court, but that hearing has been postponed. Mr. Coyer has a new attorney, Peter Halleck, who filed a motion yesterday asking for more time to review the case.

In a separate motion, Mr. Halleck stated that at the time of entering the guilty plea, his client did not fully understand the consequences of his plea.

Mr. Coyer was indicted in March on one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder for allegedly offering an undercover Bowling Green police officer $500 to kill his now ex-wife, Kimberly D. Howell.