Ryan Champion: The Murder-for-Hire Scheme That Killed His Family

Ryan Champion is a Kentucky man serving life without the possibility of parole for orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme that killed his parents and sister in October 2014, and then shooting the man he had hired so he could pose as the lone survivor. Prosecutors called it a “murder-for-hire scheme with a twist.”

The Scheme and the Killings

On October 26, 2014, Boyd Lindsey Champion, 62, his wife Joy Allen Champion, 60, and their 31-year-old daughter Dr. Emily Kathryn Champion were found shot to death at the family home in Cadiz, Trigg County. A fourth body was there too: 22-year-old Vito Riservato of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. All four died of gunshot wounds. An arrest warrant later disclosed that Emily Champion had been bound with duct tape on her hands, feet, and face before being shot in the head.¹

According to lead investigator Detective Kent Miller, Ryan Champion had been developing the plan for five to six years, approaching a different friend with an offer of money to kill his family before eventually recruiting Riservato.² Riservato, a 2010 graduate of Hopkinsville High School and father of a one-year-old son, had recently lost his job. His roommate Ariel Lower said someone had promised him an “extreme amount of money” to commit the murders.³ Kentucky State Police said Riservato had only “briefly met” the Champion family in the days before the killings.¹

Commonwealth’s Attorney G.L. Ovey described the twist: Champion enlisted Riservato to help kill the family, then killed Riservato, eliminating the only witness and leaving himself as the apparent surviving victim.⁴ Ovey declined to speculate publicly on why Champion wanted his family dead.⁵

The False Story

Ryan Champion, then 36, was the only person at the scene found alive. He went to a relative’s house across the street and called police. He told investigators that Riservato had held him and his sister at gunpoint and tied them up, that Riservato shot his parents when they came home, and that he survived by “turning the tables” and shooting Riservato himself. In the days that followed he posted on Facebook about his survival and recovery and solicited money for bills and gas.⁵

Authorities initially said they were not looking for a suspect and believed Riservato was responsible. The account did not hold. On October 31, 2014, five days after the bodies were discovered, Kentucky State Police arrested Ryan Champion.¹ Investigators built their case in part through Facebook messages between Champion, Riservato, and a third person, Ann Plotkin.²

Charges, Plea, and Sentence

Champion was charged with four counts of murder and one count of kidnapping resulting in death.⁶ He was held at the Christian County Jail on a $5 million bond.⁷ He pleaded not guilty on November 3, 2014, and the prosecution announced it would seek the death penalty. Trial was originally scheduled for August 2016, then pushed to February 2017.²

The trial never happened. On December 8, 2016, Champion, then 38, pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. The death penalty came off the table in exchange for a sentence of life without the possibility of parole or probation. Commonwealth Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins said the prosecution could have secured a death sentence but agreed to the plea because surviving family members wanted “closure and certainty” rather than years of capital appeals. She also noted that Kentucky had not carried out an execution since 2010.⁸

Champion was formally sentenced on January 27, 2017. He declined to speak at the hearing. Family members addressed him directly. Judy Williams, Joy Champion’s sister, told him: “You murdered my family. That part of a person that makes them human is missing in you.” His uncle Loren Champion, Lindsey’s brother, said he forgave him because he believed that was what his late brother and Jesus would want.⁹

The Co-Conspirator

Ann Plotkin of Hopkinsville was indicted on three counts of complicity to murder for helping Champion plan the killings and facilitating communication between Champion and Riservato.¹⁰ Before Champion’s arrest, Plotkin had publicly defended him, telling reporters she believed he was “not capable of doing this.”⁵ On May 19, 2017, she pleaded guilty to all three counts and was sentenced to 22 years in prison.¹¹

Who the Victims Were

Lindsey Champion was a lifelong Cadiz resident who retired after 38 years with Farm Credit Services in Hopkinsville and co-operated Champion Farms with his siblings. He served as an elder at the Cadiz Church of Christ and on the Trigg County Board of Education.¹² Joy Champion taught at Trigg County Elementary for more than 30 years and was named the 2008 Cadiz-Trigg County Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year.¹³ Emily Champion earned her doctorate in veterinary medicine from Auburn University in 2008 and worked at Baronne Veterinary Clinic in Sunset, Louisiana, specializing in equine medicine. She was visiting her parents when she was killed, ahead of a new position scheduled to start in November 2014.¹⁴

Where Ryan Champion Is Today

Ryan Champion is incarcerated at Little Sandy Correctional Complex, listed as inmate number 289005 in the Kentucky Department of Corrections system. His record lists five homicide offenses, and he has no possibility of parole or probation.¹⁵

1
CBS News. Questions Linger in Kentucky Shooting That Left 4 Dead
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NewsChannel5. Kentucky Murder-for-Hire Plot Trial Delayed
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People. Ryan Champion Accused of Murdering Hit Man He Hired to Kill His Family
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WKMS. Guilty Plea Reached in Ryan Champion Murder Case
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CBS News. Prosecutor: Son Plotted Kentucky Family Killings
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WKMS. Ryan Champion Pleads Not Guilty in Champion Murder Case
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KFVS12. Man Accused of Murdering 4 People in Trigg County Appears in Court
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CBS News. Ryan Champion Avoids Death Penalty
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WPSD Local 6. Family Confronts Ryan Champion at Sentencing
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WKMS. Woman Pleads Guilty in Connection to Western Kentucky Deaths
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Kentucky State Police. Suspects Plead Guilty in 2014 Kidnapping and Quadruple Murder
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Goodwin Funeral Home. Boyd Lindsey Champion Obituary
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Goodwin Funeral Home. Joy Allen Champion Obituary
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DVM360. Brother Now Charged With Death of Veterinarian Emily Champion and Their Parents
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Kentucky Department of Corrections. Offender Lookup – Ryan Lindsey Champion