A Tennessee woman is fiercely opposing her ex-husband’s potential early parole, determined to keep him in prison after he attempted to take her life on three separate occasions.
Fred Wortman, a former attorney, was handed a 30-year prison sentence back in 2015 for the failed murder plot against Staci Jones.
Wortman confessed to taking devious actions to harm Jones, including poisoning her toothpaste, planning a hired hit, and enlisting a fellow inmate to attack the mother of his three children during their divorce proceedings.
Now, Wortman is once again seeking an early release, facing the parole board for a second attempt on September 9, during the 11 years since his incarceration began.
In response, Jones has been proactive in her efforts to keep him imprisoned. She launched an online petition, which had already amassed 8,400 signatures by Wednesday afternoon, demonstrating significant public support for her cause.
‘His crimes were deliberate, calculated, and repeated. More than a decade later, the trauma inflicted on our family remains,’ the petition reads.
Jones is worried that Wortman has not changed and that if he is released he would try to kill her again.
‘We don’t know if he’ll try again. He was pretty persistent before and, you know, not wanting me to be here and, I don’t know that he’s changed. I don’t know,‘ Jones told WREG.
Staci Jones is doing everything in her power to stop her ex-husband, who tried to kill her three times, from getting out on parole
Wortman was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2015. His first parole hearing in 2019 was denied, but he is scheduled to face the parole board again on September 9
Jones’s ex-husband, Fred Wortman, tried to poison her toothpaste, hired a hitman and paid a jail cellmate to kill her. Jones is pictured with her three children
During Wortman’s trial, the court heard how he first used a syringe to inject a plant-based chemical called aconitum into his wife’s toothpaste.
In large doses, the substance can cause death from paralysis of the heart, while smaller amounts can cause a burning sensation, dizziness, headaches and difficulty breathing.
Jones ingested a small amount after brushing her teeth and described feeling a burning feeling in her mouth before developing a migraine.
‘They believe because they found syringes with his things that he had put it in the toothpaste kind of deeper. And so I wasn’t getting a full amount,’ Jones told WREG.
One of the couple’s children also became sick after using the toothpaste, Jones claimed.
ALSO READ: Idaho Judge Schedules 2024 Hearings for Bryan Kohberger Amid Guilty Plea Withdrawal Attempt
At Wortman’s sentencing hearing in 2015, prosecutors said his boss noticed he had been using a work computer to search for tips on how to hire a hitman by paying in Bitcoin and how to poison someone.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had an agent pose as a hitman to snare him.
He paid the agent, told her his wife’s address, when she would be home and left potential murder weapons around the couple’s $400,000 house.
Wortman is a former attorney. His former employer said he had been using a work computer to search for tips on how to hire a hitman and how to poison someone
Jones said her ex-husband should not be released because he could be a danger to the general public, not just herself
Wortman attempted to pay an undercover agent posing as a hitman to kill his wife and left potential murder weapons around the couple’s $400,000 home
While awaiting trial on two attempted murder charges, he then tried to pay a fellow inmate to kill his wife.
He admitted two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of solicitation of first-degree murder and was given a 30-year sentence with eligibility for parole after he served 30 percent of his time.
Wortman previously applied for parole after just four years, ‘because of good behavior and good standing and time reduced,’ Jones said.
His request was denied in 2019 and the parole board said they would not reexamine the case for another seven years.
Jones told WREG that her three children were young when their father attempted to have her killed and that they are now adults.
She said that her two daughters and son support her efforts to keep Wortman behind bars.
The mother added that the children were ‘well protected’ and have had no contact with their father, but she believes that if he were to be released, the first thing he would do is try to speak to them.
She encouraged others to sign the petition not just for her own safety, but that of the general public.
‘I don’t want him to be roaming the streets and having freedom to do what he wants to do. Cause it’s a scary thought,’ Jones said.