Fake 911 Call Helped Officials Solve International Murder For Hire Case

ull Frame Shot Of Fifty Euro Banknotes and a gun

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The Department of Justice has charged a Colorado man as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the 2018 murder of Gregory Davis.

Jerry Banks, 35, was charged with a murder-for-hire conspiracy and kidnapping for killing Davis and leaving his bullet-riddled body in a snowbank in Vermont.

Banks allegedly knocked on Davis' door posing as a United States Marshal, claiming he had a warrant for Davis' arrest. He led him away in a white SUV with red and blue emergency lights on the dash.

Davis' body was found the next day in a snowbank about 15 miles from his home. He was handcuffed and suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

Prosecutors said Banks made a false 911 call about 15 minutes before he kidnapped Davis. Banks told the dispatcher that he had killed his wife and was going to shoot himself. He did not say what town he was in and provided a fake street name when asked for his location.

It was that 911 call that helped break open the case, eventually leading to charges against Davis and three other menSerhat GumrukcuBerk Eratay, and Aron Ethridge.

The Justice Department said that Davis wanted to exit an oil deal with Gumrukcu and his brother, offering a $980,000 settlement through a middleman.

Davis sent a message to the intermediary suggesting that he would have to contact the authorities about the deal if it was terminated promptly.

"Let's hopefully close that matter and move forward. Without this, our hands will be forced to turn this in to authorities which neither party wants," Davis wrote in a text message, according to court documents reviewed by the Associated Press.

After Davis sent the text message, Eratay reached out to Ethridge on Gumrukcu's behalf and asked him to hire a hitman to kill Davis. Ethridge then contacted Banks and paid him over $100,000 to murder Davis.

Gumrukcu and Eratay were both charged with conspiring in a murder-for-hire scheme. Meanwhile, Ethridge has pleaded guilty to hiring Banks to murder Davis and conspiring to kidnap Davis.


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