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    Wednesday October 08, 2008 Weather: CLOUDY Tmp: 52° F Hum: 89% Login: | Email Story Print Story Print Photos Download PDF Who would you like us to say this is from? What is your email address? What email address would you like us to send it to? Published on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 Soldier's death: Warrant says murder was husband's idea By Paul Woolverton Staff writer ADVERTISEMENT 2 Photos VIDEO DOCUMENT RELATED Army Sgt. Richard David Smith solicited at least two people to kill his wife before she was fatally stabbed outside her home last week, according to a police search warrant affidavit. One of the two, 18-year-old Pfc. Matthew Wayne Kvapil, agreed to kill Sgt. Christina Smith for $30,000, the affidavit says. The other unnamed person came forward after the murder to help police, the document says. On Sept. 30, Christina Smith was ambushed as she and her husband walked along Baxter Street, around the corner from their home at 751 Ashfield Drive in the Hillendale neighborhood. Three days later, Fayetteville police charged Kvapil and Richard Smith with first-degree murder and conspiracy. Kvapil worked with Christina Smith as a multimedia graphic illustrator with the 4th Psychological Operations Group; Richard Smith was an electronics maintenance technician for the group. The men appeared before a judge for the first time Monday at the Cumberland County Jail. District Court Judge Tal Baggett told them they could face the death penalty and advised them to exercise their right to remain silent. Baggett appointed lawyers to take their cases. The search warrant affidavit explains much about the case, though it doesn’t address a motive for the killing. Detective Jeff Locklear said in the affidavit that police received a report of a stabbing. When officers arrived, they found Richard Smith holding his wife in the street, where she lay bleeding. She died on the way to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Locklear said he interviewed Richard Smith, who is 26, at the hospital emergency department. The detective “observed no injuries to Richard Smith” and noted that Smith spoke in what he described as a “robotic voice.” According to the affidavit, Richard Smith told the detective that on the evening of the murder, he picked up Kvapil after work at Fort Bragg. The two men shopped for supplies for a camping trip. Richard Smith said Kvapil needed a good knife for the trip, but the store was closed. Smith dropped off Kvapil at his barracks at Fort Bragg and drove home, arriving about 8 p.m., Locklear wrote. Richard Smith and his wife went for a walk shortly after, Locklear said. Smith said a man dressed in black attacked them on Baxter Street. Christina screamed, Smith told Locklear, and he grabbed at the attacker but the man got away. When he turned back to his wife, he said, he saw her lying in the street, bleeding. Locklear said he interviewed Kvapil, who told a similar story of shopping for camping supplies then going back to the barracks because the store was closed. Later, Locklear wrote, someone came forward with information about the murder. “The individual stated that Richard Smith had approached he/she more than one time about murdering his wife,” the affidavit says. “The individual stated that he/she refused to take part in the murder and made that clear to Richard Smith. The individual stated that he/she overheard Richard Smith talking to others about murdering his wife in the past.” When confronted with this information in a second interrogation, Richard Smith changed his story, Locklear wrote. He said he had talked of killing his wife but never was serious, Locklear wrote. He said that he and Kvapil planned to stage a fake mugging to scare Christina. “He said when he and Christina walked by, Kvapil jumped out of the bushes and attacked Christina,” Locklear wrote. “Richard said that he stood back and watched as Kvapil and Christina struggled for a few moments, he said Christina fell to the ground and Kvapil ran off and then he noticed the blood on her neck and called 911.” Locklear interviewed Kvapil again, confronting him with what Richard Smith said. “Kvapil stated that Richard Smith had offered him $30,000 to kill someone and he had agreed to do it,” Locklear wrote. “Kvapil stated that Richard told him he had done this type of work before and that a person could make a lot of money doing it.” Kvapil told Locklear he started gathering tools to commit the murder but tried to back out when Richard told him that Christina was the target. “But Richard told him because he already had agreed to do it, he would have to carry it out or Richard would send someone after him.” “Kvapil stated that Richard told him to stab Christina in the neck and that if she was not dead to cut her throat,” Locklear wrote. According to the affidavit, Kvapil said he waited near the couple’s house, then attacked when they walked by. He said he stabbed Christina in the neck and ran away. Kvapil dropped the knife and other evidence as he ran, Locklear wrote. Locklear said Kvapil helped police by showing where he left these items. Police found a knife believed to be the murder weapon in a creek about 1.5miles away from the crime scene. Investigators searched the Smiths’ home about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, court records say. They collected a computer, a rental contract, knives, movie videos, a photo album, nunchucks, a black glove and other items. Richard Smith and Kvapil are scheduled to appear in court Oct. 23. Staff writer Paul Woolverton can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3512. Keep up to date with all the news! Try our , , and our PM Newscast every weekday at 3:00. Register to win tickets to the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham! 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