Court orders mental evaluation for Camden County realtor charged in thwarted murder-for-hire plot

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. (KY3) - A court has ordered a mental evaluation for a southwest Missouri real estate agent accused of attempting to hire a hit man to kill her former mother-in-law.

Prosecutors say Leigh Ann Bauman, 43, of Lake Ozark, believed her former mother-in-law was interfering with her relationship with her children and agreed to pay $1,500 to have her killed and make the death “look like an accident.”

According to a probable cause statement, Bauman told the witness her ex-mother-in-law was the reason there was a strain in Bauman’s relationship with her daughter.

Court documents say Bauman believed her ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law were going to take Bauman to court for full custody of the children. Investigators say a text message from Bauman to her children read “your grandmother will die.”

Bauman faces a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, which is a class C felony. Bauman is out of the Camden County Jail after posting bond.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol handled the investigation, while the case is being prosecuted in Camden County.

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