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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A man accused of hiring two men to kill his ex-wife has been convicted of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder.
The men failed in their attempts last year to kill the Grantsville woman and testified against her ex-husband, Donald Millard, 38, of Midvale.
One of the men was arrested in Susan Hyatt's backyard as he contemplated whether to break into her home.
A month later, the other man, James D. Brinkerhoff, 34, allegedly stabbed her in the abdomen with an 8-inch hunting knife, but she grabbed the knife, slicing her hands, and ordered Brinkerhoff to leave.
Millard was convicted last week of two counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder. The crimes are first-degree felonies, punishable by maximum sentences of five years to life in prison.
Millard is to be sentenced Feb. 6 by 3rd District Court Judge Randall Skanchy.
Prosecutors said Millard wanted his ex-wife dead so he wouldn't have to pay her $20,000 in back child-support payments.
Defense attorneys argued that the men accusing Millard were felons and methamphetamine addicts who could not be believed.
Tooele County Attorney Gary Searle said phone records showed Millard talked with the man who attacked Hyatt an hour after the attempted murder.
Hyatt divorced Millard in 1997 after five years of marriage.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
