Coffee County Man and His Brother Ordered to Pay Over $1 Million in Restitution Following Murder-for-Hire Conviction

           MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA – On April 29, 2024, a federal judge in Montgomery, Alabama, ordered Jason and Darin Starr to pay $1,069,242.03 in restitution after the two planned and carried out a plot to kill Jason Starr’s ex-wife, announced United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross.

           Last year, a jury found that Jason Starr, from Coffee Springs, Alabama, was upset about the amount of money his ex-wife had been awarded after their divorce and that Jason Starr hired his brother, Darin Starr, a resident of Lakehills, Texas, to kill her. On the Monday following Thanksgiving in 2017, Darin Starr shot and killed his brother’s ex-wife in her driveway as she was leaving for work. On September 20, 2023, a federal jury convicted Jason Starr and Darin Starr for committing their murder-for-hire scheme. Both Jason and Darin Starr received a life sentence following their convictions. There is no parole in the federal system. In addition to the prison sentence, the judge ordered Jason Starr to pay a fine of $25,000.

           The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigated the case, with Assistant United States Attorneys B. Chelsea Phillips and Joshua J. Wendell prosecuting. Assistant United States Attorney Audrey L. Willis handled the restitution portion of the case.