RICHLAND, Wash. – Peyton Martin appeared in court Thursday for the James Henrikson murder-for-hire trial.
The Henrikson murder-for-hire trial is taking place in federal court in Richland, Washington. Henrikson is accused of hiring Timothy Suckow to carry through the murders of Doug Carlile and KC Clarke.
While Henrikson was married to Sarah Creveling, he had an affair with Peyton Martin, the stepdaughter of Tex Hall, one of Henrikson’s former business partners.
Martin, 22, took the stand Thursday to testify about her relationship with Henrikson. Martin had a son with Henrikson and said they had plans to leave the country after Doug Carlile was murdered.
Martin told the court Henrikson and his wife Sarah Creveling came over to Hall’s home for dinner while she was home over Christmas break. Martin said her relationship with Henrikson turned romantic when he was still married and said the two were together when she learned KC Clarke had disappeared.
When asked about Clarke, Martin said she did not know him. She said Henrikson told her Clarke had run away and said, “He was famous for just running away.”
Martin also described a trip to Chicago that Henrikson took with Robert Delao. Delao is the man investigators said found hit man Timothy Suckow.
According to Martin, Henrikson and Delao went for a business meeting. She said Henrikson told her it was for an electrical company. While in Chicago, Martin said Henrikson showed her a three-inch stack of cash amounting to around $20,000-$30,000.
Martin said Henrikson told her he was going to give it to someone for a business deal.
Martin said Henrikson left their hotel in Chicago for several hours and then returned sick. The prosecution said Henrikson was in Chicago for a heroin deal.
When Hall learned of his stepdaughters affair with Henrikson, it ruined their business relationship, Martin said.
The prosecution then asked Martin if Henrikson said anything about her mother. Martin said yes.
Martin said while Henrikson was at her apartment, he told her that her mom “was making people angry and that it was going to get her killed.”
The prosecution then brought up emails between Martin and Henrikson, and Martin confirmed the two would email back and forth. The prosecution established the fact that only Henrikson used the email address they communicated on.
In one of the emails, Martin talked about getting a passport for their child so that they could leave the country. Martin said she asked Henrikson if she could get the passport expedited. She said Henrikson told her yes.
The prosecution argued that email was sent around the time Carlile was murdered. Martin said they had planned to get married on a yacht in Brazil.
Martin said she did get a passport for her two-month-old baby and said Henrikson wanted to leave the country around the time Carlile was murdered. According to Martin, she and Henrikson discussed learning Portuguese.
Martin described a moment when Henrikson told her about a job. He told her he could get a job that would have him making $170 million a year, she said. Martin said he told her one of the jobs was very high risk.
After the murder of Carlile, Martin said she asked Henrikson if he was okay. She said she was referring to the police. Martin said Henrikson thought the police were going to arrest him.