Husband jailed for life without parole for arranging murder of doctor who failed to treat his wife

California widower Robert Elmo Lee, 83, has been jailed for life for arranging the murder of a doctor who unsuccessfully treated his wife.

Dr Thomas Shock, 67, was gunned down outside his home on 1 August 2018 after Lee hired hitmen to pursue him.

Lee felt aggrieved when his wife, Bonnie Lee, died after losing her foot to an infection following the doctor’s treatment for an ingrown toenail.

Having been found guilty of first-degree murder last year, he was sentenced on Monday to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. 

Robert Lee (pictured left) was found guilty convicted of the murder of Dr Thomas Shock (right)

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Lee (third from left) is seen with the men he hired to kill his wife’s podiatrist in August 2018

Bonnie Lee started seeing Shock in 2011 for the treatment of an ingrown toenail.

When the doctor was unable to fully treat the condition, Bonnie had her foot partially amputated.

In 2014, the doctor was accused of gross negligence.

The Medical Board of California found ‘repeated negligent acts’ by the doctor.

Lee’s wife succumbed to an infection in her foot in 2016, dying aged 73.

There was no evidence that Shock’s actions caused her death.

Shock conceded the allegations made against him and gave up his podiatrist license following an investigation.

He also retired from Lodi Podiatry, which he had founded in 1985. 

Still devastated by the loss of his wife, Lee hired Christopher Costello, then 26, to kill Shock.

Costello introduced Lee to Mallory Stewart, then 27, and Raymond Jacquett IV.

In August 2018, Jacquett drove Stewart to Doctor Shock’s house and shot the man dead.

His wife, Nancy, had gone to bed around 9:30pm and fallen asleep listening to a podcast after returning home from a dinner with Shock.

She said she did not hear the three shots reported by a neighbor at 9:54pm. 

Police found shock lying on the ground with gunshots to his arm, chest and head.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Near the body, police found a single piece of paper detailing the Medical Board of California’s report. 

The paper had Costello’s fingerprint on it, leading to his arrest.

A search of Lee’s home uncovered other pages of the medical board document.

Lee’s friends claimed he blamed Shock for his wife’s death and had organized the murder in revenge.

But the pensioner had denied any involvement in the podiatrist’s murder.

He nonetheless later told detectives he was ‘glad’ the doctor was dead. 

Christopher Anthony Costello was found guilty for his role in the murder of Dr Shock in 2021

Raymond Jacquett (left) was hired as a getaway driver for the killer, Mallory Stewart (right)

Lee and the three hitmen were arrested in September 2018.

Jacquett was sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2019. 

Costello was found guilty for his role in 2021. 

Stewart pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, as well as a weapons charge for shooting Shock, in February 2022.