Mother, daughter charged with plotting murder

A mother and her daughter were arrested July 5 for allegedly attempting to hire an undercover agent to kill the daughter's ex-husband, Watertown police said.
Felicia Nicole Arp, 18, of Sweet Water, and her mother Darlene Lethco Moses, 42, of Philadelphia, Tenn., are charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Both were held on $50,000 bond in the Wilson County Jail.
Moses posted her bond and released July 11. Arp remains in jail and is set to appear in court July 26.
Arp and Moses were arrested following a meeting July 5 with a individual the women believed would help kill Arp's ex-husband Alfred Arp. The individual, however, was an undercover Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent, who was contacted by the Watertown police chief.
According to Watertown police documents, Felicia Arp wanted to kill her ex-husband to prevent him from testifying at a hearing in Rutherford County on July 6. Felicia Arp was afraid if Alfred Arp testified, she would lose custody of her daughter, according to the documents.
An acquaintance of Felicia Arp's informed Watertown Police Chief Seth Norris of Felicia Arp's desire to kill her husband July 4.
Norris then contacted the TBI for assistance in setting up an undercover operation, the report said.
"TBI was called to setup a meeting at Watertown Car Wash to meet with Felicia and her mom Darlene Moses," the chief's report reads. "They were both planning to pay (a TBI undercover agent) to kill Alfred Arp."
According to a statement by another of Arp's friends, Moses said she would pay $1,000 for someone to kill Alfred Arp.
"The mom said if they could find someone to do it and get away with it, they would pay a thousand dollars," the statement reads. "Nicki (Felicia Arp) stated that sounded good to her."
The friend also told police that Arp said she wanted to kill her husband herself. Arp talked of attacking and killing him in a park, according to the statement given to Watertown police.
"I was shock(ed) and knew that she was really serious," the statement reads. "I started talking with her mother. Her mother told Nicki (Felicia Arp) not to talk like that because she didn't want that on her (conscience.) Nicki said that she wasn't playing, and that she really wanted him dead."
The friend then left Watertown because he was concerned about what Arp might do.
"I felt like she was serious about killing her husband and thought it would be best if I got away from her," he wrote in his statement.
The Wilson County District Attorney's office, the Wilson County Sheriff's Department and the Mt. Juliet Police Department assisted in the operation.
Staff Writer Nick Fowler can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 15.