She Tried to Murder Her High School Boyfriend
By: Fatim Hemraj
Tags: True Crime, Crime, History, Justice, Equality

Fe Hadley, who was 16 at the time, was angry at her ex-boyfriend Ryan Vaughn for ending their relationship.

She decided he needed to be punished for breaking up with her, so she hatched a plan. Hadley conspired with classmates Jeremiah Cunningham and Gabriel Pfliger via Facebook messages to kill Vaughn. Cunningham and Hadley had also briefly dated and Cunningham still had feelings for his ex, so it wasn’t difficult to get him to agree to the plan.

On November 15th, 2017 Hadley texted Vaughn to meet her behind a local store to “talk” while Cunningham stood nearby, waiting for his shining moment. The messages between Hadley, Cunningham and Pfliger stated that Cunningham was to ambush Vaughn from behind, trip him, and stab him with a large knife before dragging his body into a nearby ditch.

The plot was foiled almost immediately. Vaughn and Hadley met after school and walked to a nearby market where he bought an iced-tea. Pfliger was to bring a wooden stake and act as the look-out, but he was late to the event.

Several witnesses saw a man in a red mask hiding behind vehicles and bushes and alerted the authorities. The man in the red mask gestured at Vaughn to come closer, but Vaughn quickly realized this was a bad idea and returned to the school instead.

The school’s principal received several reports of suspicious behaviour by a masked man, at which point they decided to take a look at the surveillance footage. In the footage, Cunningham was seen in the school wearing the red mask.

The footage also showed Hadley and her accomplices talking behind the store where the attack was to take place, and Cunningham pulling out a large knife from his hoodie. The evidence was overwhelming.

Jeremiah Cunningham. Photo credit: Tri-City Herald

Gabriel Pfliger. Photo credit: Tri-City Herald

At the trial, Hadley denied having anything to do with the planned attack. She testified that her Facebook had been hacked and she was not the one who had written messages to Cunningham plotting to have her ex-boyfriend killed.

She claimed that the messages contained several expressions that she wouldn't use such as “lol” as well as multiple spelling and grammar mistakes. However, Cunningham testified against Hadley, stating that she was the mastermind and leader of the plot, while he was merely the muscle.

After Cunningham’s testimony, Hadley changed her story and testified that it was Cunningham who wanted her ex dead, not her. She stated she believed Cunningham would only beat Vaughn up, and did not intend to murder him.

According to Inside Edition, Hadley stated; “I didn’t want to kill him but I did have some issues with him. I didn’t want anything severely to happen, maybe a couple of bruises.”

However, another classmate testified that Hadley once bragged that her boyfriend Cunningham was going to kill her ex-boyfriend Vaughn as a birthday present.

Vaughn also testified, claiming that his romance with Hadley was short-lived due to Hadley’s friend Cunningham’s controlling behaviour.

Cunningham, who was charged as an adult pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder as well as second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. Pfliger was charged as a juvenile. He pled guilty to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced 30 days in Jail as well as community service.

It only took the jury three hours to convict Hadley. She showed no remorse as the guilty verdict was read. She was ultimately charged with conspiracy to commit murder.