A murder mystery In my fatherland ~ Ireland where mom was bent on some killing

CNN picked up my feed on the New Zealand story which allows people to view related kinds of topics from the BLOGOSPHERE. The interesting part of this story is I actually understand this guys feelings. Me ex hasn't hired a hitman or hitwoman, that I know of, but she has created havoc in my life. I now know she has mental health issues that caused me to re-think the situation. She has no interest in any kind of reciprocity - in fact - the order for divorce was signed recently. I would go into counselling with her anytime anywhere, however, to see if we could at least communicate properly as co-parents.MJM November 4, 2008 -- Updated 1153 GMT (1953 HKT)

Tycoon: Don't jail wife who hired hitman

• Story Highlights
• Irish tycoon pleads with judge not to jail wife who hired hitman to kill him, sons
• Judge sentenced Sharon Collins, 45, to six years in prison
• She offered hitman $19,000 deposit to make killing look like accident
• Next Article in World »

(CNN) -- A wealthy Irish businessman has pleaded with a judge not to jail his partner -- a woman who hired a hitman to kill him and his two sons for his $76 million fortune.

P.J. Howard's impassioned request to Dublin's Central Criminal Court is the latest twist in a case that has grabbed headlines in the Republic of Ireland and sparked comparisons with the plot of a crime novel.

Howard told the judge he would never give up on Sharon Collins and would not hesitate living with her again, Ireland's national television station RTE reported.

The judge, nevertheless, sentenced Collins, 45, to six years in prison.

According to RTE and local media accounts, prosecutors said Collins was motivated by greed. She wanted Howard's considerable fortune that his two grown sons were set to inherit.

Using an e-mail username named after an Eagles song, lyingeyes98, Collins began corresponding with a man she met on a Web site, hitmanforhire.com.

The two exchanged a series of damning e-mails that prosecutors presented as evidence.

Collins offered the hitman -- a 53-year-old poker dealer named Essam Eid -- a $19,000 deposit to take out Howard and his sons, and make it look like an accident.

But Eid tried to sweeten the deal for himself by contacting Howard's son with a counter-offer, prosecutors said. Eid offered the son the opportunity to buy out the murder contract for $127,000.

The son contacted the authorities. A jury found Eid guilty of extortion, and also sentenced him to a six-year prison term.

Throughout the trial, Collins maintained her innocence. Howard visited her in pre-trial detention and kissed her in the courtroom at their last hearing.

Even as the final chapter to the story was written Monday, Howard's affection did not waver.

Collins, he said, is "one of the nicest people you could ever know," according to an account in the Irish Independent daily newspaper.

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Here is another case of a gender biased sentence for a woman who falsely accused a man of some serious crimes and he spent 10 months in prison for something he didn't do. She got - now don't get upset - 50 hours community service. In other words 1 week of time doing volunteer work. The bias is not only evident in our country but, it seems, any country that has its roots in British Common Law and more.MJM Lies put me in jail - 02 Nov 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

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Lies put me in jail

4:00AM Sunday Nov 02, 2008 Lies put me in jail

A woman who helped send her former partner to prison for 10 months after lying in court has escaped with 50 hours community service.

Marion Anne Carter, 61, was sentenced in Hamilton last week after earlier pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.

Her lies under oath helped convict Robert "Bob" Sutton of two rapes, four assaults with a weapon and nine assaults on a number of people that saw him jailed in November 2005.

Sutton told the Herald on Sunday from his takeaway and dairy in Mourea, near Rotorua, yesterday he "wasn't very impressed" with her punishment.

"I don't wish jail on anybody but her. I was gutted by the fact that I did 10 months in jail for her lies, and she turns around and she gets 50 hours and that's it."

The allegations dated back to 1995 when Sutton was operating a hotel in the King Country town of Piopio.

He had maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested by two detectives but the truth only emerged when two witnesses came forward after national media coverage of his sentencing.

One came forward with a letter written by Carter telling the complainants what to say on the witness stand, and the other remembered being there when Carter wrote the instructions.

"I was found guilty and on bail about to be sentenced... a woman picked up a paper and made the connection," Sutton said.

"What Anne had done, she'd written instructions out for the `witnesses' of what she wanted them to say at court, and she'd written it out for this woman."

A year later, the Court of Appeal quashed Sutton's convictions and ordered a new trial but police decided not to proceed.

Since then the father-of-four has been working on keeping the nightmares at bay.

He shared a prison cell with a murderer and made friends with gangsters, killers and rapists in the general prison population.

The 58-year-old said he didn't hate his partner of 10 years but admitted he was "stupid" for leaving his wife of 15 years and their two children for a woman happy to arrange his demise.

After suffering sideway glances from locals, he believes he finally has his "life back on track".

With the support of his loyal customers, he is making back some of the $140,000 he forked out for solicitors and wages while he was in jail.

"I've put all my heart and soul back into the shop that I own. Now I'm in a good position, even though I paid out a lot of money."

But he will never forgive Carter.

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