Man accused of plotting to kill wife three times: "I apologize"

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. -- In a Tennessee courtroom on Tuesday, Fred Wortman III faced his wife, Staci -- the woman he allegedly tried to kill three different times, reports CBS affiliate WREG.

Wortman, an attorney, offered some remorseful words.

"No apology which I offer will be sufficient to all who I have disappointed, let down and hurt. I do apologize to Staci, the Jones, my parents, my family, most of all I apologize to my three precious children," Wortman said.

According to the station, Wortman entered a "best interest" plea in Memphis, which WREG says is not a formal admission of guilt, but does come with an acceptance of punishment.

The station says Wortman entered a similar plea in another Tennessee court to attempted first-degree murder and soliciting a jail inmate to kill his wife.

During the proceedings Tuesday, prosecutors said Fred Wortman also poisoned his wife's toothpaste at their home.

Police say after that failed, he twice tried to hire someone to kill her.

A judge Tuesday sentenced Wortman to 30 years on the attempted first-degree murder plea and eight years on the solicitation count, to be serviced concurrently.

Authorities began investigating Wortman on June 4, after someone reported Wortman had asked him to find someone to kill his wife, WREG reported. Wortman spoke with an agent posing as a potential hitman and gave him money, authorities said.

The first time Wortman allegedly tried to have his wife killed he provided a law enforcement agent with personal information about Staci, including her schedule, and planned on having her murdered on their youngest child's birthday.

He told the agent it did not matter if the children were home when their mother was murdered, according to court papers. Police said that when Wortman poisoned Staci Wortman's toothpaste to try to kill her, she and one of their children got sick but lived.

"...Your children are praying for you daily that your heart will change," Staci Wortman told her attempted killer and longtime husband from the witness stand Tuesday.

She continued, fighting back tears.

"I still struggle, but my children are the greatest victims. They know he's in jail. They know he wanted me not to be alive any more. They know he has to face the consequences," she said.

Outside the courtroom Tuesday, Staci Wortman said she was shocked when investigators first told her that her husband wanted her dead.

"It's just unbelievable that the person I've known for 18 years could do this. I've heard people say what their abuse, domestic violence, there was nothing. There was none of that in our marriage," she said.

Fred Wortman could be eligible for parole in ten years.