Plot Thickens as Stepson Arrested in Elderly Woman’s Death

HARKEYVILLE, Texas (AP) _ A sheriff says the stepson of an elderly Central Texas woman has been accused of masterminding a plot that left her and her caretaker dead.

San Saba County Sheriff Allen Brown said Thursday that Bruce Harkey is charged with solicitation of capital murder. Brown says the case allegedly involves Harkey Pecan Farms and the family fortune.

Caretaker Karen Johnson was found slain Sunday at 86-year-old Bonnie Harkey’s home near Harkeyville. The elderly woman’s body was discovered Monday in Leon County.

Bruce Harkey gave media interviews Tuesday about the case. He was arrested Wednesday, with bond set at $500,000. The sheriff had no information on an attorney for the stepson.

Bonnie Harkey’s adoptive grandson Carl Pressley and common-law wife Lillian King are jailed on murder charges in Johnson’s death.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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