Georgia man charged with murder conspiracy

A Georgia man who was already in the Houston County Jail on stolen property charges could spend the rest of his life in prison as the result of a recently uncovered plot to have members of his own family killed, according to Houston County Sheriff’s investigators.

Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes said deputies launched an investigation after William Rudolph “Bo” Drake apparently asked a fellow inmate at the Houston County Jail to murder some of his family members. Hughes said Drake conspired to have his two sisters and two nephews murdered. All four live in southwest Georgia.

“He was conducting all of this from within the Houston County Jail,” Hughes said. “It’s not uncommon. A lot of people who are behind bars may have certain motivation to want people killed.”

Hughes said the inmate came forward with information about the murder proposal. He later became an informant for their investigation. As part of the inquiry, investigators told Drake on Sunday that one of his relatives had recently been murdered.

Investigators charged Drake, who was already in jail on multiple felony stolen property charges, with four felony counts of conspiracy to commit murder. He’s being held at the Houston County Jail on a $2 million bond.

Hughes said Drake provided the informant with details about the relatives, including a hand drawn floor plan of one of the family member’s home. Hughes declined to release Drake’s motive for wanting his family murdered. He also declined to release whether Drake had offered to pay for the murders, and how he wanted them killed.

Investigators with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and Donalsonville Police Department in Georgia assisted in the investigation. Drake faces 10 to 99 years or life in prison if convicted of each class A felony crime of conspiracy to commit murder.

Drake has been in the jail since June, which is when Houston County Sheriff’s investigators arrested him on a dozen stolen property-related charges. He was charged with six felony counts of first-degree receiving stolen property and six felony counts of bringing stolen property across state lines.

“He’s what I would characterize as a career criminal,” Hughes said. “He’s the type of individual we need to keep in jail for the rest of his life.”