‘Murder for Hire’ suspect in Stephens County sentenced to 5 years for firearm charge

STEPHENS COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – A suspect in a Stephens County “murder for hire” case has been sentenced to serve 5 years in prison for a federal firearm charge.

Jacob Wayne Spencer pleaded guilty to Possession of a Firearm with Obliterated Serial Number earlier this week in Federal court and received a sentence of 60 months in prison.

He is still facing charges of Capital Murder with Remuneration and Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device in Stephens County in connection to the case.

Court documents filed in the Possession of a Firearm case reveal more about allegations, saying the Texas Department of Public Safety began investigating Spencer in April 2025 after law enforcement received a tip about a possible murder for hire.

During the investigation into the tip, the documents state detectives interviewed the hitman, who is referred to in the documents as only as “Cooperating Defendant.”

This hitman, who is a convicted felon, said Spencer had given him a firearm equipped with a silencer, a burner phone, and $10,000 to murder his stepfather, according to the documents.

The documents state the hitman claimed Spencer put a tracking device on the victim’s truck and told the hitman to go to the victim’s property, murder him and steal his truck in order to take the truck with the tracking device to Spencer’s home. Spencer allegedly also planned to destroy the firearm, and after the murder was completed, he said he was going to give the hitman an additional $10,000.

Spencer wanted to murder the victim because Spencer’s mother left her estate to the victim and the victim was in the process of evicting Spencer, according to the documents.

Investigators did find a tracking device on the victim’s vehicle, and when agents executed a search warrant on Spencer’s residence in May, the documents state they found unused tracking devices, evidence of homemade silencers, cash, and a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Spencer now remains held in jail on bond totaling $1,275,000. No further information is available at this time.