Wanda Webb Holloway (born 1954) is an American woman from Channelview, Texas who was convicted of attempting to hire a hitman to kill the mother of her daughter's junior high school cheerleading rival.
In 1991, after Holloway's daughter Shanna narrowly missed out on a spot on her junior high school squad two consecutive years, Holloway's ex-brother-in-law, Terry Harper, reported to police that Holloway asked him to hire a hitman to kill Verna Heath, mother of the 14-year-old girl who had beaten her into the squad. Holloway allegedly believed that Heath's daughter would be so devastated by her mother's death that she would drop out of the cheerleading team, thereby giving the spot to Shanna. Holloway was arrested the next day.
Key evidence in the case for the prosecution, headed by Mike Anderson, came down to tapes provided by Terry Harper along with his testimony. These tapes revealed the words of Holloway offering her diamond earrings in exchange for never seeing Verna Heath in Channelview again.
The defense lawyer, Troy McKinney, argued that Holloway’s ex-husband, Tony Harper, had conspired with his brother to frame Holloway and she never intended anyone to get killed. McKinney pointed to the divorce between Tony Harper and Wanda Holloway in 1980 and an ensuing custody battle over their children. Terry Harper's estranged wife, Marla LaRue Harper, also testified that he had beaten her to scare her out of revealing that he said he was going to "get [Holloway] to say things" to help his brother get custody of his two children.
Holloway was convicted of solicitation of capital murder in the 1991 trial and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. However, the conviction was overturned when it was discovered one of the jurors was on probation for a drug-related felony and should have never been allowed to serve on the jury; a mistrial was declared.
Holloway hired a new defense lawyer, Jack Zimmerman. This time Wanda Holloway pleaded "no contest" (nolo contendere), and Zimmerman successfully negotiated a plea deal for Holloway.
On September 9, 1996, state district court judge George Godwin sentenced Holloway to ten years in prison, with a fine of $10,000.[1] On top of this, Holloway settled a civil suit filed by the Heath family. On October 2, 1994, Holloway agreed to pay a total of $150,000 to the victims. It was decided in court that $70,000 would be given to Verna and her husband, $30,000 to the children of Verna, and $50,000 to cover the legal expenses of the case.
Holloway was released on March 1, 1997 after serving just six months of her sentence.[2] The judge ordered her to serve the remaining 9.5 years on probation, and to complete 1,000 hours of community service.[3]
Reenactments made about the incident include: