Conway lawyer guilty of trying to hire killer

CHARLESTON -- With friends, colleagues and former employees watching, Conway attorney Irby Walker was ordered to serve three years in prison after he admitted trying to hire someone to kill another attorney who once practiced in his office.

Walker, 59, was charged with solicitation to commit a felony last year after Doug Thornton told police that Walker had made threats against his life and that he believed he was trying to follow through on those threats.

Walker pleaded guilty to that Monday before Charleston area Circuit Court Judge Roger Young, who gave him a 10-year prison sentence, but suspended it upon Walker's service of three years in prison and five years on probation. Young also ordered Walker to undergo mental health counseling and not to have any contact with Thornton.

"This is a very, very serious crime, and frankly, as a lawyer, you should know better," Young said.

Walker told Young there are four things important in his life: God, family, friends and his law practice.

"There's nobody sorrier for what happened than I am. He didn't deserve what I did," Walker said. "I began to blame Doug for things I should've never blamed him for. None of those things, had I been normal, would've affected me."

About a dozen attorneys, including many from the Conway area, attended the hearing on Walker's behalf, and several spoke about a man who was kind and dedicated to his family and profession. They also described how Walker's character changed after he fired a former secretary, who was accused of embezzling from his law practice.

But Thornton told Young even with the community support for Walker, he had not heard any apologies from Walker, his family or Walker's supporters.

"I haven't seen any sign of remorse in Irby Walker," Thornton said. "I don't know what justice is in a case like this."

After he had finished speaking Monday, at the prompting of his attorney, Walker apologized to Thornton.

"I am sorry for the problems I caused Mr. Thornton and his family. He has nothing to fear from me," Walker said.

But Young told Walker that was the "worst apology" because "up until the very last sentence of 'I'm sorry, Mr. Thornton,' it was all about you. Genuine remorse is the first step toward rehabilitation."

The men had shared office space leading up to the incident late last year, 15th Circuit Solicitor Greg Hembree said. Walker contacted a man, who had worked for him and whose wife had been represented by Thornton in a messy divorce case, to have Thornton killed, Hembree said.

The man went to Thornton and told him about the plan, and the two then worked with Horry County police to record Walker between Sept. 11 and Sept. 17 when he discussed having Thornton killed, Hembree said.

The man introduced Walker to a cousin he said was from a Northern state with connections to the mob who could carry out Thornton's murder, Hembree said. That man was an undercover police officer.

On Sept. 17, Walker paid the man $500 cash and issued two checks from his law firm totaling $4,500, Hembree said. The remaining $5,000 would be paid after Thornton's death, Hembree said.

Walker was arrested that day, and attorneys said he later confessed to police about the plan.

Walker's attorney, Frank McMasters, said the incident stemmed from mental illness and problems Walker had with a former employee who embezzled between $300,000 and $400,000 from him.

Thomas Martin, a forensic psychiatrist, told Young that he had evaluated Walker and he believed he suffers from bipolar disorder and at the time of the incident was on the wrong medication, which aggravated his condition.

"He did not understand the ease he would be apprehended for this ludicrous plan," Martin said. "He's a low risk to re-offend as long as he continues on outpatient treatment."

Walker said he committed himself to a treatment facility after he was released on bail and has continued with outpatient treatment since the incident.

Walker and Thornton have known each other since 1982.

"I'm still incredulous about it to this day," Thornton said. "I've tried to treat people the way I want them to treat me. ... I think those concepts are as foreign to Irby Walker as a conscience is."

Thornton told the judge he was suspended from practicing law after failing to file an income tax return in 2000 while going through a divorce. Thornton said Walker offered him office space and represented him in proceedings to regain his law license, which he did in 2005.

In 2006, Thornton relocated his practice and he said he had referred some of Walker's clients to other attorneys because of unethical practices, though he did not provide details.

Conway attorney Aneta Floyd, who has known Walker her entire life, said he'd had a bad relationship with Thornton that included threats of legal actions, which contributed to Walker's instability.

"Mr. Walker was on a downward spiral probably for several months before this transpired," Floyd said. "What happened was terrible. I also believe it was an aberration."

The attorneys asked Young for mercy on Walker and probationary prison sentence.

"When we heard about this case in Conway we were shocked," said Johnny Gardner, a local attorney. "I don't see anything that would be served by putting him in jail."

Walker's attorney reiterated the comments when he asked for leniency.

"From this point forward he's only going to be remembered as that crazy lawyer who tried to hire a hit man to kill another lawyer," McMasters said. "That's his epitaph."