Target of Murder-for-Hire Scheme Defends Plotting Wife, She Gets No Jail Time

March 4, 2010 — -- A Texas woman who pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill her husband will not serve time in prison following an emotional statement in her defense from none other than the target of her plot.

Catherine Shamp, 38, admitted Wednesday she attempted to hire her daughter's ex-boyfriend to kill her husband, David Shamp. In court, David Shamp made a victim impact statement before sentencing came down, supporting the plea deal that would not put his wife behind bars.

"He described the pain his family was going through and said that he wanted to be able to go forward with his life," Kari Allen, the prosecuting attorney in the courtroom, told ABC News. "He said he did not want her to go to the penitentiary."

"She [Catherine] never turned around to face him. She faced forward. ... He was talking to her back," Allen said.

"I'm glad that she's not going to stay in prison for the rest of her life," Shamp told reporters afterward, according to ABC News' Houston affiliate KTRK. "Maybe she can get on her feet and do the right things for a change. ... She just made some really bad decisions."

David Shamp was instrumental in keeping his wife out of prison, Allen said.

"From the beginning he did not want the mother of his children going to prison. ... It was a huge factor," she said. "Mr. Shamp loved this woman. She betrayed him in her offense, but she is the mother of his children. There is still an emotional tie to that."

In December, David Shamp told ABC News that he had already forgiven his wife for the plot.

"I forgive her for what she did because I can't go home -- God won't let me go home with hatred in my heart and raise my kids with hatred in my heart for what she has done, because I can't do that," he said.

David Shamp said in court Wednesday that he did not want his wife to be part of their three children's lives, something he apparently saw coming back in December.

"She was a good mother," he said then. "We're not painting a picture that this was an evil woman, but they know Mommy is never coming home, not to our house."

The purpose of the victim impact statement, assistant district attorney Donna Hawkins said, is to "give the victim some closure."

Rather than risk time in prison, Catherine Shamp accepted a plea deal in which she accepted five years' deferred adjudication, a form of felony probation, and 500 hours of community service.

If Shamp completes the five years without incident, she will not "receive a final felony conviction," Hawkins said.

The Shamps are in the middle of a divorce, Allen said.