Michael Joseph Bien, formerly of Brownwood, now of Pecos, Texas was found guilty of criminal solicitation and criminal attempt – capital murder by the 35th District Court Jury on Thursday.
Bien, 38, has been in jail on those charges since December 2012 after Texas Rangers received information that Bien was attempting to locate a person for the purpose of murdering an individual.
Closing arguments ended around 11:30 a.m. Thursday and a verdict of guilty was given by the jury mid-afternoon.
In early December 2012, Bien met with an undercover police officer of the Texas Department of Public Safety in the 400 block of W. Commerce in Brownwood, the Wal-Mart parking lot. Bien subsequently paid the officer money for the purpose of murdering Koh Box, his former brother-in-law, according to court documents.Bien was indicted February 2013 for Criminal Attempt – Capital Murder and Criminal Solicitation and has been held in the Brown County Jail since his arrest on December 7th, 2012.
The punishment phase of the trial began on Thursday afternoon.
