Metals theft allegedly at heart of murder case

Suspicions of ongoing metals thievery allegedly drove a Modesto, California, area attorney to plot the murder of a man he thought was guilty of stealing stored and salvaged items from his land.

Media reports in mid-August have recapped a 300-plus-page legal affidavit that spells out an alleged plot by lawyer Frank Carson to enlist other people to murder Korey Allan Kauffman, a former Turlock, California, resident who made his living by collecting and selling scrap metal.

A recap of the affidavit on CNN.com says the plot eventually involved Carson and up to eight other people.

Carson had reportedly filed several previous police reports stemming from the theft and attempted theft of some of the “car parts, metal [and] antiques” that he stored in his back yard and inside a shed behind his home.

According to the affidavit, Kauffman confided to another person that he was eying some irrigation pipes stored on Carson’s property and he may have set out to steal them on a night in late March 2012.

Kaufman was reportedly not seen alive any time after that night, and his body was discovered in a national forest in August 2013.

Through an attorney, Carson has indicated he intends to refute the charges and clear his name.