Lawyer in Alleged Wife Slay Plot Tried to Buy Off Snitch: Complaint

A Frankfort lawyer charged with scheming to hire someone to kill his estranged wife tried buying off the snitch who allegedly wore a wire to record the murderous plot, according to a criminal complaint on file in Will County court.

Jailed attorney Robert Gold-Smith was charged with “offering a thing of value” — specifically money — to wire-wearing snitch Brian McDaniel on Oct. 1.

McDaniel, 52, and Gold-Smith, 53, were locked up together in the Will County jail when McDaniel surreptitiously recorded Gold-Smith trying to put a hit on his wife in October 2012, police said.

According to court papers, Gold-Smith discussed paying for the murder of his wife with at least five inmates during his time in jail. No less than three of them met with detectives and offered to wear a wire while talking to Gold-Smith about murdering his wife.

Only one of the five — McDaniel — was identified in the indictment against Gold-Smith.

McDaniel was incarcerated at Illinois River Correctional Center when Gold-Smith attempted to buy his silence, according to state and county records. McDaniel’s is still there, doing time for theft convictions out of Will and LaSalle counties.

Before allegedly attempting to put a hit on his wife, Gold-Smith viciously beat her in a Will County Courthouse hallway in front of numerous witnesses, police said.

According to a psychiatrist’s report, Gold-Smith said he “blacked out” during the November 2010 attack.

The couple had been in court together for their divorce case.