MO MO - Teresa Butler, 35, Risco, 25 Jan 2006 *GUILTY*

[JnRyan]

Can you access this:

www.courts.mo.gov.

and thank you checking it out!

THANKS! It appears the arraignment is now scheduled for 10 January 2020.

 

[Niner]

THANKS! It appears the arraignment is now scheduled for 10 January 2020.

Great! Does that mean I can put you down as my "go to person" for this case??!!

 

[JnRyan]

Great! Does that mean I can put you down as my "go to person" for this case??!!

Ummm...don't know about that. BUT I will be following it! With the death of her husband in the last couple of years the kids no longer have a parent to turn to. And this guy is largely responsible for that aspect.

 

[Niner]

Ummm...don't know about that. BUT I will be following it! With the death of her husband in the last couple of years the kids no longer have a parent to turn to. And this guy is largely responsible for that aspect.

Okay - but if you are going to follow it - don't you want to know "when" he'll be in court & when trial starts?

 

[Niner]

Friday, January 10th:
*Arraignment Hearing (@ am CT) – MO - Teresa Lynn Butler (35) (missing between 10pm Jan. 24 & early morning of Jan. 26, 2006, Risco, not found) - *Melvin Ray “Cricket” Hufford, Jr. (42/29 @ time of crime) arrested & charged (11/21/19) with 1st degree involuntary manslaughter & tampering with evidence.
Hufford was a person of interest within the first 48 hours but LE couldn’t develop enough evidence to charge him, But kept close tabs on him. In Pemiscot County jail (for the last 3 years) awaiting trial on unrelated charges out of New Madrid County.
11/25/19: Arraignment hearing was rescheduled for 1/10/20.

 

[Niner]

So - what do you think @JnRyan - can you look up and see if he plead guilty or not - and next court date?
TIA if you can!

 

[JnRyan]

So - what do you think @JnRyan - can you look up and see if he plead guilty or not - and next court date?
TIA if you can!

It would seem he pleaded guilty. He only got 10 years. Evidently there is a statute of limitations on involuntary manslaughter. The sheriff doesn't sound like he is OK with it. AND that 10 years was with the sentences running concurrently, not consecutively.
Tallapoosa man sentenced to 10 years for Butler murder

 

[Niner]

It would seem he pleaded guilty. He only got 10 years. Evidently there is a statute of limitations on involuntary manslaughter. The sheriff doesn't sound like he is OK with it. AND that 10 years was with the sentences running concurrently, not consecutively.
Tallapoosa man sentenced to 10 years for Butler murder

Thank you for the information - unfortunately I can't access that article you posted....

 

[JerseyGirl]

Thank you for the information - unfortunately I can't access that article you posted....

Melvin Ray Hufford Jr., 42, was sentenced Friday to seven years for the Class C felony of manslaughter and three years for the Class D felony of tampering with physical evidence. The sentences will run concurrently

“While 10 years is far less than Melvin Hufford deserves, it is still a significant sentence based on the evidence we had available,” (Prosecutor) Lawson said. “Although I do not believe that Teresa Butler died as a result of a drug overdose, we had no physical evidence to prove or disprove the defendant’s version of what happened.”

_

Hufford told Stoelting that the night Butler died, he and another male were getting high on meth with Butler. Hufford said he injected himself and Butler with meth and as he was enjoying his high, Butler said her chest was hurting.

Hufford then said he went into the kitchen to get something to drink and when he came back out he saw Butler was passed out. After checking for a pulse and not feeling anything, Hufford said he and the other male “freak out.”

New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens said after the arrest that while Hufford mentioned a second person in his confession, there are no other arrests pending.

“We contacted the second person he named and we don’t believe he is involved,” Stevens said. “We aren’t sure why (Hufford) is naming him but we don’t feel that person has any involvement with this case.”

According to the probable cause statement, Hufford then confessed to wrapping Butler’s body in a tarp and taking her to a ditch bank and laying her out. He also said they stole some things from the house to make it look like a “(expletive) robbery.”

The probable cause statement said Hufford admitted to taking Butler’s body to his dad’s old abandoned house where he hid her body under a kitchen sink cabinet for a couple of years while he was in prison. After he got out of prison, Hufford said he took her body to a burn pile and burnt her remains.

Hufford then told Stoelting he crushed up her remaining bones, put them in a bucket and dumped them in a ditch south of Tallapoosa.

Tallapoosa man sentenced to 10 years for Butler murder

 

[Niner]

Thank you JerseyGirl for what the article said!

 

[Atombudd]

I'm glad they finally solved this case. It is really sad that the husband Gary Dale Butler died in 2018 before knowing what happened to his wife. He passed away at the age of 43, at home. That doesn't sound good. It's never been reported and it wonder if it was suicide.
Also, me personally I didn't see the meth thing coming. I was surprised. Very sad. I'm glad the family finally got justice although 10 years is hardly justice. Just a shame they won't be able to bury her.

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

Anniversary of disappearance.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Teresa Lynn Butler – The Charley Project