Murder By Snake Plot

(Denver, Colorado) Two men have been arrested for allegedly plotting to kill a gambling associate by rattlesnake.

The men were allegedly trying to kill Matthew Sowash, owner of Amateur Poker Tour in Wheat Ridge because he owed them $60,000, the Rocky Mountain News reported. Arrest affidavits say Sowash's company stages Texas Hold'em-style poker games in Denver area bars.

Jim Shires of the Jefferson County Sheriff's office confirmed the arrests.

An investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation led to the arrest of Herbert Paul Beck, 56, Thursday night in Raton, N.M., and Christopher Lee Steelman, 34, Wednesday night in Lakewood.

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The plan was to build a wooden box for Sowash to stand in that would hold the snakes, and "the lid was to be built to allow Sowash's legs to be put inside but not pulled out." The plan was to leave the rattlesnake-bitten Sowash on a hiking trail.

Each faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to kidnap and extortion. Raton and Steelman were booked into custody at the Jefferson County Jail in Golden on $500,000 bail.