Police say they foiled a murder for hire scheme before a Highlandville man's parents ended up dead.

A concerned citizen's phone call may have saved two lives; we don't know who this concerned citizen is, but she knew 26-year-old Donald Lynn Keck.

Her cooperation led to Keck’s arrest; he’s been charged with conspiring to commit murder.

The plan was to have his parents killed inside the house they all shared because he was concerned they would testify against him in a St. Louis drug case.

Mother Nature has laid the groundwork for the perfect murder story as rain poured from the sky on Thursday night.

“This is stuff you read about in the tabloids, see on T.V.,” explains Christian County Sheriff Joey Kyle.

But this story isn't about murder.

It’s about an attempt foiled just in the nick of time.

“All too often you hear of investigations taking forever. Well every domino fell right into place, everything happened and fell into place really quickly,” Kyle tells KSPR.

26-year-old Donald Keck is charged with trying to have his parents killed.

He told a friend, who told Springfield Police, who told the Christian County Sheriff's Department.

They got law enforcement officers from around the Ozarks involved.

They wired up Keck’s friend, heard him detail the deal, then sent two of their own in undercover to make it official.

“They set up a meet, sat down to discuss the terms of the agreement.”

$50,000 to shoot his mom and dad and make it look like a robbery.

The Kecks live in a very rural, isolated area.

Their nearest neighbors are a quarter of a mile away; in fact, their own house is a quarter of mile from their mailbox, so it’s easy to see why Donald Keck told undercover officers gunshots would go unnoticed.

“I was shocked to hear it. I’ve never- it kind of scares me that it's around here where we live, no telling what else is going to happen,” says Jacob Davis.

The Davis family lives in the closest house to the Kecks, and they've never even met them.

But even a quarter of a mile away is a little too close to home.

“I feel safe but it does put me on edge, kind of gets my defenses up higher,” Jacob tells us.

According to police Keck told his friend he was going to pay the hit men with his parents' insurance money.

He served prison time for two burglaries in 2002 and 2003, but there is no record of the St. Louis drug case he mentioned to his friend.

Keck is in the Christian County jail on a $250,000 cash-only bond.