Two men facing federal murder for hire charge

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Freddy Manuel Gonzalez and Xavior Caine Posey in the murder of Brian Russell on Dec. 30, 2020, in Franklin, Ky. announced Acting United States Attorney Michael A. Bennett.

As alleged in the criminal complaint filed in the case, over the course of 2020, Freddy Manuel Gonzalez and Brian Russell both dated Russell’s ex-wife, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

She ultimately broke up with Gonzalez in mid-December 2020.  Russell had told co-workers that Gonzalez had once threatened him with a gun, according to the release.

In the early morning on Dec. 30, 2020, Franklin Police responded to a shots-fired complaint at Russell’s home and found that Russell had been shot three times.  Russell died later that day.

Gonzalez and Posey were co-workers.  The criminal complaint alleges that Dec. 29 and Dec. 30 text messages between Gonzalez and Posey discuss the murder, and that Gonzalez offered to pay Posey to commit the murder.

The federal grand jury sitting in Bowling Green returned a one count indictment against both Gonzalez and Posey on May 20, 2021, charging them with a violation of 18 United States Code, Section 1958, murder for hire.  Gonzalez and Posey are both now in federal custody.

If convicted at trial, the maximum sentence is death and the minimum sentence is life in prison, and there is a maximum $250,000 fine.