March 05--ST. LOUIS -- In a Craigslist ad, a Maplewood man offered a $1 million bounty on each Maplewood police officer killed, federal charging documents made public Monday claim.
The man, William Lawrence, 32 was charged by complaint in federal court here Friday with use of a facility of interstate commerce in the commission of a murder for hire.
Lawrence had a previous run-in with Maplewood police, who went to his apartment building at 7707 Lindbergh Drive on Feb. 6 after receiving a report of a disturbance between neighbors, according to the complaint. They discovered that he had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear, according to an affidavit filed in court by Maplewood Det. Jordan Wicks.
As officers tried to arrest Lawrence, he lifted his shirt, making officers think he was going for a weapon, Wicks wrote. One officer used a Taser to disable Lawrence.
During a search of his apartment, they found and seized marijuana plants, a shotgun and a .22-caliber rifle, Wicks wrote.
Lawrence was jailed on a charge of resisting arrest. After his release, he repeatedly called police and asked for his guns back. He showed up in person once, telling Wicks that police could not keep his guns, the complaint says.
An Arnold police officer, John Cobb, contacted Maplewood police Thursday, saying that he'd spotted an ad on the website Craigslist offering money in exchange for the murder of Maplewood police.
The ad, which has since been removed, said, "Wanted dead, all the maplewood city police officers, paying one million per head. two million for detectives 'Kerry Daniels,'" Wicks wrote.
Daniels is the department's evidence custodian, and also spoke to Lawrence when he visited the station, Wicks wrote.
Craigslist provided the name and IP address of the person who posted the ad, Wicks wrote, which authorities traced back to Lawrence's apartment.
Lawrence was arrested Friday. Neither he nor his mother, with whom he lives, could be reached for comment Monday.
Copyright 2012 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
