A 69-year-old St Joseph man charged with rape and sodomy of a girl who was then 14 years old is now charged with trying to have her killed.

Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins filed charges of conspiracy to commit first degree murder against Doyle Edwin Brant and Alesia Rivera.

Court documents say they tried to arrange the killing with a confidential informant.

According to the charging documents, Brant and Jeremy Smith agreed that one or more of them would arrange for the murder the victim.  Brant allegedly provided a description, directions to her residence, and other relevant information regarding her whereabouts. According to the complaint, Brant promised to pay two thousand dollars for the murder, and communicated with a person in the community via video chat to facilitate the payment.

In earlier court documents, a deputy with the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office said that Mr Brant “has a history of continuing harassing behavior with the crime victim, repeatedly calling, texting, and arriving at same locations after crime victim has attempted to break all contact with the suspect.”

The victim is now 21 years old.

Rivera, 44, allegedly spoke with Brant via video chat from the jail, and agreed to meet with Jeremy Smith to discuss the transaction. The complaint goes on to assert that Rivera agreed with Brant to accept a money transfer and pay money to Smith for the murder. Rivera allegedly met with Smith and provided a description and other relevant information regarding the victim’s whereabouts in furtherance of the conspiracy.

A judge has ruled that both Brant and Rivera pose a danger to the victim, and ordered both held without bond. Officials expect both to appear in court for arraignment this Friday, September 13.

The conspiracy charge is a class-b felony, and could land each defendant in prison for five to fifteen years if they are convicted.

According to online court records, Brant was charged with statutory sodomy in February for an incident that allegedly occurred in February of 2006.   In March, Brant waived his preliminary hearing and was awaiting trial.   A complaint alleging four counts of statutory rape was filed last May.   Brant waived his right to a preliminary hearing in that case as well.  In June the court agreed to join the two cases together.   A trial has not been scheduled, according to online court records.