A New Mexico grand jury has indicted the daughter of a prominent south Arkansas couple on charges including solicitation to commit first-degree murder after authorities said she tried to hire someone to help poison her ex-husband with ricin.
Other charges against Lara Mason, 46, of El Dorado include criminal solicitation to commit trafficking, criminal solicitation to commit tampering with evidence and criminal solicitation to commit burglary of a vehicle.
A Bernalillo County grand jury in Albuquerque handed up the indictment Wednesday, and it was filed Thursday.
Albuquerque police arrested Mason on May 31. She is free on a $250,000 bond.
Mason’s attorney, Ryan Villa of Albuquerque, declined to comment on the case.
Mason, who grew up in El Dorado and graduated from El Dorado High School in 1986, is the daughter of Richard and Vertis Mason, best known for spearheading the revitalization of downtown El Dorado in the 1980s and 1990s by buying and renovating buildings surrounding the Union County Courthouse.
The Masons own energy and consulting firms in El Dorado and operate an upscale boutique hotel - the Union Square Guest Quarters - along with several bed and breakfasts in the city. Vertis Mason served two terms on the El Dorado City Council until her defeat in 2010.
On Friday, Richard Mason said his wife was in New Mexico with their daughter and two of her children.
“Right now, I think we are all doing pretty well,” Richard Mason said. “Vertis has been back and forth to New Mexico, and we anticipate many trips there in the future. Overall, I think we are convinced that Lara is completely innocent.”
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Lara Mason initially planned to plant cocaine in a water bottle inside the vehicle of her ex-husband, Casey Quintana, in hopes that he would ingest it, fail a drug test and lose the custody fight over their 7-year-old daughter. Later, she instead decided to poison Casey Quintanawith ricin, the document said.
The affidavit said Mason and Quintana’s adult son, Coty Quintana, intervened by telling his father about his mother’s plans, according to the court document.
On May 29, Casey Quintana met with Albuquerque police and showed them text messages between Coty Quintana and his mother from May 13 to May 27 that “detailed a plan to plant drugs inside” his vehicle,” the court document said.
The court document said Casey Quintana also gave police a digital recorder containing conversations between his ex-wife and son in which Lara Mason can be heard coaching Coty Quintana “on what he needs to say in court.”
A short time after Quintana contacted police, an undercover Albuquerque police officer met with Mason, posing as the person who wouldplant the drugs in Casey Quintana’s vehicle, the document said.
During that meeting, Mason decided to move forward with “plan B,” telling the undercover officer - known to her as “Homie” - that she would make ricin and give it to him to plant in a water bottle inside her ex-husband’s vehicle, according to the court document.
Ricin is a deadly poison derived from castor beans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin works by getting inside the cells of a person’s body and preventing the cells from making the proteins they need. Effects of ricin poisoning can depend on whether the poison is inhaled, ingested or injected, but all methods can cause serious illness or death.
“She advised that it only takes a small amount, two or three granules, to kill an adult,” the affidavit said.
“Ms. Mason goes into detail about how she will make the ricin in her home state of Arkansas, in the front yard … she describes boiling the skin off the castor beans using acetone, coffee grinder, strainer and a paper towel.”
Mason then told the undercover officer that she “has a ‘cop friend’ in Arkansas with whom she has discussed ‘getting rid of’ Mr. Quintana,” the document said. “According to Ms. Mason, this friendtold her not to talk on her cell phone, drive her car, or rent a car, and to not go anywhere near him.”
Mason “also advised Coty he will be left with ‘everything,’” including a vehicle she said was worth $5,000 to $6,000, the affidavit said.
Mason gave the undercover officer keys to Quintana’s vehicle, along with a hand-written note with the addresses of Quintana’s business and his home,” according to the court document.
Throughout her conversation with the undercover officer, “Ms. Mason waivers between plan A and plan B. She discusses changing plan A to plan B and using the ricin instead of the cocaine depending on the outcome of her custody hearing on July 8,” the court document said.
When news broke of Mason’s arrest, it spread quickly throughout El Dorado’s boardrooms and barbers shops. Many businessmen associated with the Masons both professionally and personally did not want to publicly comment, but all who were contacted said they wish the family well.
El Dorado Mayor Frank Hash said in an e-mailed statement Friday that “this entire community is shocked to the core about this most undeserving news regarding [Richard and Vertis Mason’s daughter].”
“We are all hoping that the entire matter is a total misunderstanding, and that all can be rapidly cleared up. … the Masons are in our prayers, and we have faith that this unfortunate report will soon be favorably resolved.”
Hash called the couple “tremendous friends and benefactors to this city, devoting many years of their time, money and labor to making El Dorado a much better town for all.”
El Dorado resident Pauline Dowd said the situation reminds her of a television crime drama.
“It’s a little unnerving,” Dowd said. “I don’t know the Masons, but I know a lot of people have been talking about it. I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day and heard news about it. Of course, we have to remember that the poor woman is innocent until proven guilty. It’s just a sad situation for that family.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 19 on 06/30/2013