Woman Shocked by Allegations of Sister’s Death Plot for Money

A woman whose sister has been arrested for trying to arrange her murder to gain their mother’s inheritance was stunned when told of the alleged plot, Cypress police said Thursday.

She “is definitely knocked on her heels,” Cypress Police Sgt. Gene Komrosky said of Karen Ann Meadows, 35, of Anaheim, allegedly the intended victim of a bizarre murder-for-hire plot that came to light this week.

Meadows’ sister, Alice Marie Reidhead, 34, of Fullerton was arrested Tuesday after meeting with undercover officers.

Komrosky said Reidhead met in a motel room with undercover Cypress police officers posing as murderers for hire and gave them $800 of a $1,500 payment to murder Meadows.

Reidhead and Meadows are the only daughters of Lorraine Witten Hulbert, 61, who is in good health, Komrosky said.

Neither Meadows nor Hulbert could be reached for comment Thursday. But Komrosky said Meadows was shocked when told of her sister’s alleged plan.

The sisters “were in contact quite a bit. She (Meadows) had talked to (Reidhead) on the phone 2 days before this broke open,” he said.

Komrosky said he does not know how much Reidhead stood to inherit if her alleged plan had worked.

Reidhead “is under the impression or has been told that her mom is worth a lot of money,” Komrosky said. “The mom owns a few properties, but I don’t think that the property is worth what (Reidhead) thinks it’s worth.”

Reidhead, wearing a gray Orange County Jail sweat shirt, appeared Thursday before Municipal Judge Alan N. McKone, who postponed the arraignment until Nov. 3 to give the defense more time to prepare.

McKone also appointed a public defender to represent Reidhead, whose job was described as a senior plant administrator.

“Nobody has died and no one was going to be killed other than the sister,” Komrosky said. “The mother is in fine health. She’s not on her deathbed and nobody anticipates her dying soon.”

Reidhead had been living with her mother for about 4 years, according to neighbors. Within the past 2 weeks, Hulbert moved from Fullerton to Anaheim.

Geri Benedict, who has lived next door to the family in Fullerton since 1955, said: “I have three sons, and they were always at each other’s throats; what’s not to argue?” But a murder plot “all seems terribly unreal to me.”

“I’m skeptical about this. I’ve heard better plots on television.”