For Immediate Release

April 11, 2003

Concord Man Arrested For Attempting To Arrange Murder For Hire To Kill Wife

Boston, MA... A Concord man was arrested last night while at a meeting he had arranged to hire someone to murder his wife for the insurance money.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, J. Dewey Webb, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in New England, and Thomas M. Hodgson, Bristol County Sheriff, announced today that HAROLD STONIER, a/k/a "Alan Parker," age 43, of Concord, Massachusetts, was arrested on a Criminal Complaint last night charging him with use of a facility in interstate commerce, and traveling in interstate commerce, with intent that a murder be committed in return for payment of money.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the Complaint, on April 3, 2003, a man fitting STONIER's description and identifying himself as Alan Parker left an envelope at Tempest Fisheries in New Bedford for Frank Moniz, a defendant in a pending federal criminal prosecution in Boston which had received a great deal of attention by the print media. Following his arrest and a detention hearing, Moniz was released on conditions by the Court pending trial. Moniz was employed at Tempest Fisheries.

The envelope was subsequently opened and determined to contain a newspaper article noting Moniz's release on bail as well as several typed documents appearing to request Moniz's assistance in killing the man's wife in exchange for $50,000 and a 3-carat diamond ring appraised at $20,000. The ATF was subsequently notified and an ATF Special Agent traveled to Tempest Fisheries to meet with Moniz. During the meeting, and in the presence of the ATF Special Agent, Moniz received a phone call regarding the envelope. Moniz agreed to meet with STONIER accompanied by the Special Agent posing as Moniz's girlfriend, on Monday, April 7, 2003 at a Dunkin' Donuts in New Bedford.

The three met on April 7, 2003 during which time, it is alleged that STONIER presented Moniz with another envelope indicating that he thought it best to communicate in writing rather than talking out loud. The envelope contained 4 pages of paper containing further information as to the particulars of what STONIER wanted Moniz to do for him. Specifically, it is alleged that STONIER indicated that he wanted his wife murdered and that he planned to finance the murder through the insurance payment he would receive after the murder was accomplished. It is alleged that STONIER wrote that he didn't care who actually performed the task, but that he would like to discuss how it would be done. Additionally, it is alleged that STONIER noted that the payment could be increased by 50% if the insurance company determined the death to be accidental.

It is alleged that during the meeting, STONIER also presented Moniz and the undercover ATF agent with pictures of his wife and two children; a sheet with miscellaneous information about his wife and her schedule; a key to the exterior doors of his house; a diagram of the interior layout of his house, including the location of telephones and the notation "dry creaky wood floors"; MapQuest directions to his house from Fall River, Massachusetts to Concord; a map of the town of Concord; and a typed list of possible scenarios for how to kill his wife, including accidents: woman changing flat tire in garage pinned under car. The undercover ATF agent asked STONIER if he would be willing to meet with "her half brother Ken", who would be the one actually performing the murder. STONIER is alleged to have agreed to this second meeting but requested that it be closer to Needham where he worked.

It is alleged that a meeting among the ATF undercover agent posing as Moniz's girlfriend, an undercover ATF agent posing as her half-brother "Ken", and STONIER occurred in a car in Dedham, Massachusetts on April 8, 2003. It is alleged that during the meeting, STONIER repeated his request for assistance in murdering his wife. It is alleged that STONIER recommended that Ken strangle his wife and then transport her body to a Holiday Inn to make it appear as though she had been having an affair which went wrong in some way. It is alleged that STONIER also paid the agents $300 for any supplies they would need.

It is also alleged that STONIER agreed to meet with the two undercover ATF agents again on the evening of April 10, 2003 at which time he would give them another $600 for supplies needed to carry out the murder and to finalize arrangements. It was at this meeting last night that STONIER was arrested.

STONIER will have an initial appearance later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein. If convicted, STONIER faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Bristol County Sheriff's Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian T. Kelly in Sullivan's Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.