He later served a life sentence for hiring a hit man to murder his ex-wife, Mildred Horn, their disabled son Trevor, and nurse Janice Saunders.
[5] Laid off by Motown in a 1990 sale and restructure, the once-prosperous Horn slid into debt, particularly with $16,000 (equivalent to $33,700 in 2023) in overdue child support.
[5] On March 3, 1993, when the murders occurred, Horn's family consisted of:[4] By late 1992, Horn had befriended James Perry, via his cousin, Thomas Turner, and contracted him to kill his ex-wife, disabled 8-year-old son Trevor, and the family's overnight nurse Janice Saunders in their Layhill, Silver Spring, Maryland, home.
[8] The case prompted a lawsuit in 1997 against Paladin Press, the publishers of Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors, which James Perry had used as a guide to execute the murders.
[1] The lawsuit was settled in 1999, when the publishers agreed to stop selling the book and pay millions of dollars in compensation to the families of the victims.
[11] In October 1999, Discovery Channel's The FBI Files aired a season two episode on the case, with interviews by investigators and original crime footage, called "Hired Gun".
"[16][17] Horn's complicity in orchestrating the hit against his son for personal gain was also detailed by Casefile True Crime Podcast in September 2018.