WACO, Texas — In a discovery motion filed last week, an undercover Waco police officer reportedly spent six months "exploiting" Waco lawyer Seth Sutton and "entrapped" him in a murder-for-hire scheme in 2020.
Sutton was indicted in August 2020, alongside the late and former Waco attorney, Chelsea Tijerina, in the alleged plot to kill Marcus Daniel Beaudin.
Beaudin reportedly tried to expose the breast of a teenage girl, as well as fondle her in May 2016. He was indicted in June on a third-degree felony and charges against him are still pending.
The girl involved is a family member of Sutton's.
Sutton befriended the undercover officer, Scott Vaughn, in December 2019 and encouraged him to join his motorcycle club in May 2020, the motion reads. The two became close and both men began to confide in one another, the motion alleges.
During this time, Sutton "began to vent" to the undercover officer, Scott Vaughn, about what Beaudin reportedly did to his family member.
"Unwisely... Seth verbalized his fantasy of killing the sexual predator [Beaudin] and then Vaughn asked if he thought about how he would do it and Seth continued to share his fantasies about how he might kill the sexual predator," the motion reads. "Although, at the time, there was absolutely no indication that this was any more than the fantasy of a devastated stepfather and husband who believed he let his family down, this did not stop Vaughn from exploiting Seth Sutton’s pain."
The motion says that Vaughn did not report to authorities, as required by law, about the alleged sexual assault of Sutton's family member, nor that Beaudin's life was in danger.
Instead, "Vaughn skillfully turned it from Seth fantasizing about personally killing the man who wrought havoc on his family to him (Vaughn) killing Beaudin. Vaughn also talked about getting a gun," the motion states.
"Vaughn devised a game plan wherein he would insert himself in the situation and then falsely claim that Seth was hiring him to kill Beaudin," the motion continues.
Days after at a bar, Vaughn "solicited" money from Sutton to buy an untraceable gun and said he would carry out the murder a month in the future.
"Vaughn then made an excuse to leave claiming that, as a single father with a daughter having a sleepover," the motion reads. Moments later, when Sutton left the bar, he was arrested.
Broden's motion also seeks Sutton and Tijerina’s phone records; the officer’s reports relating to his undercover work with the motorcycle club, documentation of any internal affairs or complaints against the officer, as well as and Texas Ranger investigative reports.
Waco’s 19th State District Court Judge Thomas West has set a hearing for Nov. 10 to consider the discovery motion.