A Stone County man who told officials he assisted in the disposal of a body after his girlfriend killed a man has pleaded guilty to felony evidence tampering.
Gerald Hoffman, 55, entered the plea on June 6, 2022, under an agreement with Stone County prosecutors, according to court documents.
He originally told investigators he had shot and killed Billy Mack Walker in November and his companion Sheila Phillips had helped dispose of the body.
n a later interview, he changed his statement and said she had shot Walker and asked him to deal with the corpse, according to probable cause statements.
First-degree murder charges were added to tampering charges against Phillips. She is held in the Stone County Jail in lieu of a $50,000 bond and is to next appear in court on July 5, 2022.
Walker’s remains were found face-down and without clothing on Dec. 15, 2021, on Dade County Road 187 north of Route EE. He was identified by the Missouri Highway Patrol through a fingerprint scanner on the scene, according to probable cause statements filed in the case.
Hoffman remains in the Stone County Jail until sentencing.
(Story by Emilee Kuschel, Ozarks First)
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