Viswa Vanapalli
In April 2013, a routine traffic stop in Charleston, South Carolina, led the police to uncover a cold-blooded murder-for-hire plot that ended in multiple arrests. The intended target was Nancy Cannon, who had been estranged from her then-husband, Chris Latham. NBC News’ Dateline’s podcast, titled ‘Murder & Magnolias,’ focuses on this shocking case and its aftermath.
Who is Chris Latham?
Chris Latham was a wealthy and successful Charleston banker who once appeared to have everything in life. He was married to beautiful Nancy for about 24 years, and they had two daughters, Emily and Madison. At the time of the incident, he made a six-figure salary as a Bank of America executive, whereas Nancy was a real estate agent and a state lottery official.
However, by the beginning of 2013, the couple had drifted apart and were in the process of a bitter divorce. Nancy said, “We got plenty of evidence that he was having multiple affairs with women with whom he worked, and I filed for a divorce on those grounds, and then surprise of all surprises, in three or four months, he started saying that I was having an affair and I was trying to kill him.” Chris had even filed for a protective order against his estranged wife by insisting she wanted to harm him.
Then, a seemingly unrelated and completely random traffic stop in The Holy City on April 5, 2013, led the police to learn of a plot to have Nancy killed, which was traced back to Chris. On that fateful day, Aaron Wilkinson from Kentucky was stopped, and he soon told them Nancy was being targeted. Officials also found a gun and ammunition upon searching his vehicle. Arron actually cooperated with the authorities and admitted he’d traveled from Kentucky to South Carolina with a former cellmate, Samuel Yenawine.
Samuel was the ex-husband of Wendy Moore, Chris’ assistant and girlfriend. The ensuing investigation revealed that she was the one who had handed Aaron and Samuel a hit packet. It contained all the information they could’ve ever needed relating to Nancy, especially her daily schedule, family, and address, in addition to printed maps and handwritten orders. Over time, the police traced these documents to Chris’ printer in his office. Also arrested later was Samuel’s then-girlfriend, Rachel Palmer.
The authorities believed that Chris wanted Nancy dead because he didn’t want to pay alimony if the divorce went through. Wendy was also implicated after handwriting analysis revealed the writing on the notes in the hit packet was hers. Aaron also iterated she gave Samuel the hit packet and a down payment for the murder. The officials eventually arrested both Chris and Wendy, but the former denied having anything to do with the plot. However, recorded phone calls between them while in jail proved the two were connected.
Chris Latham is Out of Jail Today
The fact the photos of Nancy’s house and her car in the hit packet were found on Chris’ phone was a crucial piece of the tale. That’s because since no other physical evidence tied Chris or Wendy to the murder and Samuel killed himself while in jail, Aaron’s testimony carried most of the weight for the prosecution. Therefore, in August 2014, Chris, then 51, was found guilty of using interstate commerce for murder for hire. Yet the jury couldn’t reach a verdict on the other charges against him: conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and illegal firearm possession.
Chris’ defense did question Aaron’s credibility but was ultimately unsuccessful. He was hence sentenced to serve ten years in federal prison and didn’t receive any credit for time already served. Upon completing the sentence, Chris was to be on supervised release for three years. Records indicate he was released from prison in January 2022 and is currently abiding by the rules of his release. From what we can tell, Chris currently lives in Sullivans Island, South Carolina, but has maintained a low profile since being let out.
Read More: Where is Wendy Moore Now?
