Man who tried to hire fellow inmate to kill wife, church members, gets 10 years

A man who threatened members of his Bonney Lake church and then tried to hire a fellow inmate to kill church members and his wife has been sentenced to a decade in prison.

James Carns, 56, pleaded guilty earlier this month to five counts of second-degree assault — one for the threats and four in connection with his failed attempt at hiring a hit man.

On Friday, the threats resulted in a sentence of four years, five months. The hit list added five years, seven months. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stanley Rumbaugh ordered him to serve the terms consecutively.

According to court documents, two men brought Carns a letter in March 2015 to tell him about a church meeting where he was to be discussed. He became angry and threatened to make their wives “husbandless.”

He later threatened one of the men during a phone call, and went looking for one of them at home. That led officials with the church to call Bonney Lake police, who arrested Carns.

After his arrest, Carns’ wife got a letter from an inmate saying Carns tried to hire him for $30,000 to kill her and four others, including the two who delivered the letter.

Church officials said Carns was upset because he was being dismissed from the group.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Man who tried to hire fellow inmate to kill wife, church members, gets 10 years."