News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | Gattuso grandfather due in court
Associated Press - November 27, 2009 8:35 AM ET
FARGO, N.D. (AP) - An Oklahoma man accused of hiring his handyman to kill a North Dakota dentist is due in court.
Sixty-3-year-old Gene Kirkpatrick of Jones, Okla., was to make his initial appearance Friday morning on conspiracy charges.
Kirkpatrick is accused of paying Michael Nakvinda $3,000 to kill Philip Gattuso, who was Kirkpatrick's son-in-law. The 41-year-old Nakvinda is charged with murder.
Gattuso was found in his Fargo home beaten to death with a hammer Oct. 26. Kirkpatrick allegedly arranged the killing because he did not agree with the way his granddaughter was being raised. Gattuso's wife, Valerie, died in March after an extended illness.
Law officers brought Kirkpatrick to Fargo on Wednesday after he waived his right to challenge his extradition to North Dakota.
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