Atlanta murder-for-hire of socialite Lita Sullivan featured on ‘20/20’

On Jan. 16, 1987, Lita McClinton Sullivan was supposed to be in court so a judge could decide how property would be divided once her divorce from her multimillionaire husband was finalized.

Instead, she opened the door of her Buckhead home that morning and was greeted by a man holding a white box filled with a dozen pink roses. The “delivery man” pushed his way inside the home, where he shot and killed Sullivan, according to investigators.

Despite intense publicity of the case, it would take nearly 20 years before the case was solved. The man she was divorcing, James Sullivan, had hired a gunman to kill Lita in hopes he wouldn’t have to split marital assets with her.

The case will be featured on “20/20″ at 9 p.m. Friday on ABC. The show will feature interviews with the lead prosecutor on the case, Clint Rucker, along with former friends of the Sullivans, a judge, and FBI and GBI investigators.

The high-profile case also became the subject of a book published in August, “ A Devil Went Down to Georgia ,” by journalist Deb Miller Landau.

The Sullivans married in 1976, and in the early years, James spoiled Lita with expensive jewelry and lavish trips, according to family and friends. But his infidelities and controlling behavior led Lita to file for divorce.

Credit: Georgia Bureau of Investigation

After Lita Sullivan’s death, it took nearly 12 years for investigators to zero on James Sullivan and Phillip Anthony “Tony” Harwood — the triggerman hired to kill the 35-year-old woman. James Sullivan left the country, but was extradited from Thailand back to the U.S. to stand trial.

In 2003, Harwood avoided a possible death sentence by pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and agreeing to testify against James Sullivan. As part of his sentence, Harwood was given credit for four years served in county jail after his April 1998 arrest. He was released from prison in 2018 .

Sullivan, now 83, was convicted of murder in 2006 and is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

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