Custody dispute leads to murder plot at WilCo judge and attempted murder in Liberty Hill

LIBERTY HILL, Texas – Three people were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and conspiracy to kill a Williamson County judge, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office said.

According to the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, around 2:30 a.m. on March 8, a teenager called 911 and said his mother and her boyfriend had been shot by an intruder while they were sleeping in Liberty Hill.

No items were stolen and it was clear to officers that this was not a random act of violence.

The teen's mother was shot 11 times in the chest, stomach, arms, legs, shoulder and neck. The mother's boyfriend was shot twice in the neck and arm.

RELATED: 3 people arrested for planning attempted murder and killing of WilCo judge: WCSO

“Upon arrival, Liberty Hill police officers asked the female victim who might have shot her and she responded that she only knew of her ex-husband as such an offender,” said Williamson County Sheriff Mike Gleason.

The ex-husband was identified as 38-year-old Clinton Harmon. Gleason says it was a custody dispute over their seven-year-old child, who was not home at the time of the shooting.

“Text messages between the female victim and Harmon revealed his frustration over financial matters and her relationship with her current boyfriend,” Gleason said.

In July, investigators received a call from Harmon's ex-girlfriend, who lives in Louisiana. She expressed her fears that Harmon and his mother, Teresa Harmon (59), and his adoptive father, Matthew Harmon (50), were involved in the shooting.

She told investigators about a meeting in Bastrop County last year where they discussed how to kill the victim and the judge who was hearing the custody battle.

“Matt Harmon remarked, 'I'm just telling you, I'll pay $10 to $20 to get the grandchild.' They discussed drugging the victim with fentanyl, getting her license plate and hiring 'thugs' from Austin to carry out the crime,” Gleason said.

The authorities monitored the homes of the judge and the victim for weeks.

Gleason says Clinton believed the March shooting went under the radar.

“He basically planned the route. He wouldn't use any toll roads and he wouldn't drive past any cameras or flock camera systems to maintain his anonymity,” Gleason said.

He did not know that the lien holder had a GPS tracker on his vehicle that followed him from Bastrop to the crime scene.

On September 8, he was arrested in New Orleans while attempting to board a plane. He is charged with attempted murder and will be extradited to Williamson County. He is being held on $2 million bail.

Matthew and Teresa were arrested in Bastrop in retaliation for the threats against the judge. They are being held on $1 million bail each.

“This is a case you couldn't make up. This is like something made for television. In this profession, everyone is threatened with losing their job, but they literally started planning how to kill a judge, how to carry it out, how to get the narcotics, they planned step by step how to do it,” Gleason said.

Gleason says there are plans to improve security in court.

Further arrests have not been ruled out.