Lisa Whedbee Pleads Guilty, Begins Sentence For Soliciting Murder

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ A woman who claimed she was the victim of abuse pleaded guilty Monday to soliciting a newspaper reporter to kill her former husband.

Lisa Whedbee’s right hand shook and her voice was barely more than a whisper as she admitted soliciting her lover to kill Rob Whedbee in June 1994. She was sentenced to one year in jail, beginning immediately.

As she was led away, she whispered ``I love you,″ to her new husband, Keith Weatherly, and handed him her wedding ring.

Reporter Michael Frazier attacked a sleeping Rob Whedbee with a butcher knife while Lisa Whedbee allegedly stood by, armed with a baseball bat during the attack. Rob Whedbee received only minor cuts.

Frazier, sentenced to four years in November, is free on bail pending an appeal. He testified before his conviction that he still loved her.

Frazier began an affair with Mrs. Whedbee after meeting her through their church choir and writing an award-winning Mother’s Day story for The Oak Ridger newspaper about her struggle to raise a daughter with Down syndrome.

She claimed that her husband of nearly 12 years had threatened and beaten her.

Mrs. Whedbee had faced 25 years in prison, but attorneys and her former husband agreed to the lesser charge.