A Cross Lanes woman admitted Friday to plotting to kill her husband, saying she came to the decision after talking to her boyfriend about the abuse her husband had allegedly put her through.
Brandy Skeens, 39, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit murder. An attempted murder charge, which had also been filed against her, was dropped as part of the deal she made with Kanawha County prosecutors.
Initially during Friday's hearing, Brandy Skeens said the plot to kill Robert Skeens had been a joke, Assistant Kanawha Prosecutor Fred Giggenbach said.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom, however, "pressed her, based on what her co-defendant said, and then she admitted to the plan," Giggenbach said.
That co-defendant, Joseph Lawrence, pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to commit murder. He had agreed to testify against her if she had gone to trial.
Lawrence, 41, of Charleston, told Bloom that he had dated Brandy Skeens in high school and that the two had been in a romantic relationship for several months last year.
Both Lawrence and Brandy Skeens are set to be sentenced by Bloom on Nov. 17. They both face one- to five-year prison sentences and are both being held in the South Central Regional Jail until sentencing.
According to criminal complaints written by police against Brandy Skeens and Lawrence, Brandy Skeens told deputies that she and Lawrence had made plans over the past couple of weeks for Lawrence to kill her husband. She "advised there was a lengthy history of domestic violence involving her husband" against her, according to the complaints.
Robert Skeens has never been charged with domestic violence and denies the abuse allegations, the prosecutor said. The Skeens' two adult children described to Giggenbach the abuse their father inflicted on their mother, he said.
"Both [children] explained the seriousness of the domestic violence on their mother that went on for years. It was to the point that she would be choked until she blacked out, that she would get punched, slapped and knocked down," the prosecutor said.
Giggenbach considered the domestic violence allegations when offering Brandy Skeens the plea deal, he said.
"That evidence would have come in at trial," said Giggenbach, after Friday's hearing. "I had to take that into consideration. It's not an excuse but it is mitigating."
Brandy Skeens admitted Friday that she dropped Lawrence off at her house and provided him with a gun, according to the prosecutor. She also admitted to leaving her hosue in disarray, in an attempt to stage a burglary, Giggenbach said.
Brandy Skeens spoke with her husband when he was on his way home from work and tried unsuccesfully to text Lawrence to tell him Roger Skeens was returning home. Lawrence was supposed to let her know whether "it" - the killing of her husband - was done, stated the complaints against Brandy Skeens and Lawrence.
Roger Skeens found Lawrence in his house and was able to overpower him and lead him outside. Lawrence had been drinking pretty heavily before going to the Skeens' home, according to Giggenbach.
Roger Skeens called 911.
During the struggle Roger Skeens fired his gun, which he had taken from Lawrence, the prosecutor said. A window of his truck was struck by the bullet.
Brandy Skeens and Roger Skeens divorced and Brandy Skeens has remarried.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.