Woman, 76, charged with hiring hitman to kill husband

FOR two decades Al Gentry begged investigators to take another look at the mystery of who killed his brother Harold and left his gunshot-ridden body sprawled on the floor of the home he shared with his wife.

He visited the sheriff’s office dozens of times and made just as many phone calls. And when authorities finally listened, they ended up arresting the person Gentry had always suspected: his brother’s now 76-year-old former wife, who was charged last month with hiring a hitman to gun him down.

“This is something I’ve been waiting for for a long time,” Gentry said.

Gentry’s persistence may have led investigators to a far more chilling discovery about Betty Neumar. After arresting her, authorities realised that five times since the 1950s she had been was married and each union had ended with the death of her husband.

Authorities say they’ve notified law enforcement officials where Neumar is believed to have lived with the men. So far, no one has said whether the deaths are suspicious, but officials are reopening the cold cases.

Gentry had been turning up for years at the sheriff’s office and talking about the case to anyone who would listen.

His brother’s body, with several gunshot wounds, was found on July 14, 1986.

Neumar, who was out of town the day her husband was killed, showed no emotion when she got back, Gentry said.

When she pulled up at the house she said she had been in Augusta, Georgia the previous night, before he had said a word.