Suspect in murder-for-hire plot planned jailbreak, indictment says

United States marshals foiled a Spokane jailbreak plan by the man accused of hiring a gunman to kill South Hill businessman Doug Carlile.

Federal prosecutors described a scheme by James Henrikson to put together a team to help him escape while en route to a hearing in U.S. District Court in downtown Spokane.

Henrikson and Carlile were business partners in a North Dakota oil patch venture until Carlile sought to cut ties with Henrikson.

The high-profile killing happened in December 2013 in Carlile’s home while his wife hid in an upstairs bedroom closet. The home sits in a stately neighborhood near Rockwood Boulevard.

An inmate at the Spokane County Jail told marshals in early February that Henrikson wanted his team to attack the van transporting Henrikson to court by using “guns, grenades and squirt guns full of gasoline” to burn and stop the van.

The informant – who was in a cell next to Henrikson – later wore a wire to record conversations, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Henrikson planned to flee to Turkey, where he claimed to have a rich relative, according to court records. He offered the informant $500,000.

After the informant was released from jail, he told federal agents he was encountered in a Wal-Mart by two men who quizzed him about his readiness to help spring Henrikson from federal custody.

Prosecutors want to introduce the jailbreak scheme, which includes notes of the plan seized from Henrikson’s cell, to jurors in the upcoming murder trial.

Henrikson and four other men have been indicted in the killings of Carlile and K.C. Clarke, another man allegedly targeted by Henrikson regarding oil patch dealings in North Dakota. The indictment also includes the attempted murder of three other men tied to the business.

While Henrikson is considered the mastermind behind the crimes, he is accused of hiring Timothy Suckow, of Spokane, as his triggerman.