Feds say they disrupted plot to murder witnesses in upcoming trial — 'I want them off the board'

Federal authorities say two witnesses in an upcoming Cook County murder trial were targeted in a murder-for-hire plot for which a man now faces separate criminal charges.

Christopher Yates, 39, is charged with murder for hire and conspiracy in a 23-page criminal complaint filed Thursday in federal court. A Homeland Security Investigations special agent alleged in an affidavit that Yates gave someone a gun and $250 while seeking the murder of the two witnesses in the upcoming state court trial of Brandon Wilson, 38.

“I want them both off the board,” Yates allegedly said of his targets. “Both of them got to f---ing go.”

Defense attorneys for Yates and Wilson declined to comment Friday. Both men are in law enforcement custody, records show.

The feds’ complaint does not identify Wilson by name but points to the case number under which he is charged. He is accused in Cook County of the first-degree murder of Diana Black and attempted first-degree murder of another person in September 2020. His trial is set for October, according to the federal complaint.

That document explains that authorities were contacted by someone cooperating with the feds, hoping it would help a friend who faces unrelated charges in Florida. That friend also became a so-called cooperating defendant, assisting investigators in thwarting Yates.

Yates allegedly spoke with the two cooperators in a recorded meeting on July 9 in Oak Lawn. That’s when Yates allegedly handed over $250 and the gun — which he called the “woowop” — and solicited the murders. He promised to pay more money in the future and also provided ammunition.

“That’s red tips, the ones that go through body armor,” Yates allegedly said, referring to the bullets he offered. “I got a fresh box of them.”

Yates allegedly said anyone who happened to be with one of the targets should also be killed, and he insisted that different guns be used to prevent ballistics tracing.

“End of the day bro, we down in the streets,” Yates allegedly said. “He get killed however he get caught. ... As long as he gets his a-- scratched off the map.”

Yates allegedly said he would have committed the murders himself, but he’d likely be the primary suspect. He also explained that “there is no physical evidence” in Wilson’s case, “they [the police] have cameras but the cameras are too far down, they can see the action but they can't say it’s him, they need a motherf---er to point him out. So his b---- turned state.”

Yates kept in touch with the pair of federal cooperators as he gathered information about the targets, according to the complaint. They eventually met again on Tuesday, at which time Yates allegedly insisted that one of the targets needed to be shot in the head.

Contributing: Matthew Hendrickson