Don’t Get Involved With Snakes

The moral of the story is…watch out for guys with snakes? 

In one of the more bizarre murder plots you will ever hear, two Colorado men are in police custody for planning to kill a man with rattlesnakes.  Christopher Steelman and Herbert Paul Beck are being held on suspicion of extortion, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in conjunction with an attempt to recover money that Beck says he was owed. 

Beck says he invested in the Amateur Poker Tour, run by Matthew Sowash, and claims that he is owed $60,000, which is comprised of his investment plus interest.  Beack and Steelman allegedly planned to somehow get Sowash to stand in a wooden box filled with rattlesnakes in order to kill him.  The box was supposedly designed to allow someone to step foot in it, but not be able to get out.  After Sowash expired, the two men would have dumped him on a hiking trail to try to make it look like an accident. 

Steelman, a private investigator, says he is innocent and, in fact, tried to warn Sowash about Beck’s plan.  He says that he was hired by a car dealership to repossess a vehicle from Sowash.  Sowash, in turn, pointed him towards Beck, who he said was the one financially responsible for the truck.  Beck then told him to go ahead and take the truck, and, in turn, hired him to investigate Sowash. 

Beck told Steelman that Sowash owed him $60,000.  At first, Steelman thought Beck was simply upset about the debt.  But when Beck described the “snakes in a box” plot, Steelman said he became concerned.  In addition to the snakebite option, Beck also considered tampering with the brakes on Sowash’s automobile and kidnapping his children for ransom.  According to Steelman, Beck also thought about taking out an insurance policy on Sowash’s life. 

Steelman claims he then went to Sowash at the end of June to warn him about Beck’s plans.  Sowash went to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation with the information.