Melissa Beacom: Woman arrested after she solicits 2 men to murder her elderly mother over child's custody

PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES: Prosecutors allege that a Pennsylvania woman, engaged in a child custody dispute with her mother, orchestrated a fatal shooting by arranging for two men to shoot the 71-year-old woman in the head.

The principal of a local school reported the incident to the St. Clair Township Police Department on December 13, according to a news release from the Westmoreland County Prosecutor's Office.

Alice Robson was missing since December 11

Home health care workers discovered a child who needed 24-hour care at home alone, and Alice Robson, the child's caregiver, was nowhere to be found.

After the police got in touch with the detectives in Westmoreland County, they discovered that Robson—who happened to be the boy's grandmother—had been missing since December 11, WPXI reported.

Robson lived in St. Clair Township, outside of Pittsburgh, on Furnace Lane. On December 14, police and the bloodhound team of the Greensburg Fire Department went to her house to look for her.

Authorities were notified by the dogs about an incomplete crawl space under the home's back porch. According to prosecutors, police discovered Robson's body there, hidden by a panel and covered in debris. She suffered two gunshot wounds to the head.

Detectives found bloodstains in the house

Upon searching the house, detectives discovered bloodstains in the living room. They subsequently discovered that Robson's granddaughter's boyfriend, Matthew Jason Bates, 18, was present at the house on December 11th.

Bates informed detectives that Robson's daughter Melissa Beacom, 49, had brought him to the house so he could fix a car.

Prosecutors said that Bates described Robson and Beacom having a "tumultuous relationship" regarding Robson's grandson's custody.

Beacom allegedly told detectives that he had asked Bates, who was eighteen, to kill Robson on "multiple occasions," including that evening.

After leaving the Robson's house with Beacom, Bates came back with his friend, 18-year-old Robert Patrick Jack. According to the news release, "Detectives were told the two entered the home, two shots were fired at Robson’s head, killing her," Law&Crime stated.

Prosecutors claim that Bates and Jack then attempted to tidy up the mess in the house by moving her body beneath the crawl space.

Beacom faces two counts of soliciting criminals and conspiring to commit criminal homicide.

The charges brought against Bates and Jack included tampering with evidence, criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide. Without bond, all three are being held at the Westmoreland County Prison.

The date of their upcoming court appearance is December 29.