An Arkansas man has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder after allegedly being overheard by his victim on a phone call that was accidentally dialed, according to a local news report.

Lary Barnett, 68, was arrested last week after his purported victim -- a former employee -- called police, saying he had received a call from Barnett -- who apparently did not know he had dialed the man's number.

Barnett owns Legend Motor Company, a car dealership in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

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The alleged would-be victim told police he overhead around 90 minutes of plotting between Barnett and another man, with Barnett giving the man directions and telling him to "make it look like an accident" when he burned the purported victim's house down.

After the alleged victim called police, officers went to his home and discovered that somebody had broken in and tampered with the gas stove.
That discovery led to the suspect's arrest, according to the report.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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