Poker Players Plot Death by RattlesnakesMatthew Sowash, owner of Amateur Poker Tour, was the target in a bizarre Colorado murder plot that would have had Sowash killed by rattlesnakes.
Herbert Paul Beck, 56, and Christopher Lee Steelman, 34, were charged with suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and extortion. Bail for each was set at $500,000. Both mean were trying to collect a debt from Sowash.
The plan was to build a wooden box to hold the snakes and ''the lid was to be built to allow Sowash's legs to be put inside but not pulled out,'' according to the affidavits.
Herb Beck was arrested in Raton Thursday. He told investigators he had invested $36,000 in a company that stages Texas Hold'em style poker tournaments.
Beck claimed the victim owed him more than double that. So police say Beck planned to kill him with rattlesnakes doing the dirty work.
Bob Myers of the Rattlesnake Museum in Albuquerque told the local station in New Mexico, KOB, killing someone with rattlesnakes is comparable to trying to kill someone with a b b gun.
"The venom of a rattlesnake is relatively mile and does not usually cause a life threatening bite," said Myers.
