Man sentenced in Billy Mack Walker murder case
According to the Stone County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, on December 15, 2021, a body was found unclothed, lying face down, in a ditch off County Road 187 in Dade County. The local sheriff requested assistance from the Missouri State Highway patrol, and detectives soon arrived to conduct an investigation. Identified by using fingerprints, authorities identified the body as Billy Mack Walker, born July 9, 1962; officers determined that he had most recently been living in McCord Bend near Galena.
Autopsy results revealed that Walker had been shot three times and determined that the cause of death was a homicide from the bullet wounds, which were not self-inflicted.
Further investigation revealed Walker had disappeared a few days earlier and that he had been seen with Gerald Hoffman shortly before his disappearance. When questioned, Hoffman initially denied any involvement but admitted that after Billy Mack Walker had been shot in Walker’s home, Hoffman had helped transport Walker’s body to a road near Stockton Lake, dumping it there.
He also admitted that after disposing of the body, he had returned to Walker’s house and burned his clothes and the blanket used to take the body and clean up other potential evidence of the crime.
Hoffman was arrested and taken to the Stone County Jail on about January 12, 2022. Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby filed felony charges for tampering with evidence in the murder case. The defendant remained in jail until June 6, 2022. On that date, he pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to six years in prison by Circuit Judge David Cole.
Selby said, “Although tampering is only a Class E felony that carries up to four years in prison, due to the nature of the underlying offense, Judge Cole followed our request to run the sentences consecutive to one another for a total of six years. I believe that is appropriate in this situation and is consistent with what we have done in similar situations in the past.”
According to court records, Gerald Hoffman is no stranger to being behind prison walls.
In 2010, Hoffman was sentenced to five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to second-degree assault.
Hoffman and three other men assaulted a man camping with his family in McCord Bend. The assault caused the victim to be sent to the hospital to be treated for his injuries. Hoffman’s home had recently burned, and he believed the victim was involved.
Autopsy results revealed that Walker had been shot three times and determined that the cause of death was a homicide from the bullet wounds, which were not self-inflicted.
Further investigation revealed Walker had disappeared a few days earlier and that he had been seen with Gerald Hoffman shortly before his disappearance. When questioned, Hoffman initially denied any involvement but admitted that after Billy Mack Walker had been shot in Walker’s home, Hoffman had helped transport Walker’s body to a road near Stockton Lake, dumping it there.
He also admitted that after disposing of the body, he had returned to Walker’s house and burned his clothes and the blanket used to take the body and clean up other potential evidence of the crime.
Hoffman was arrested and taken to the Stone County Jail on about January 12, 2022. Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby filed felony charges for tampering with evidence in the murder case. The defendant remained in jail until June 6, 2022. On that date, he pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to six years in prison by Circuit Judge David Cole.
Selby said, “Although tampering is only a Class E felony that carries up to four years in prison, due to the nature of the underlying offense, Judge Cole followed our request to run the sentences consecutive to one another for a total of six years. I believe that is appropriate in this situation and is consistent with what we have done in similar situations in the past.”
According to court records, Gerald Hoffman is no stranger to being behind prison walls.
In 2010, Hoffman was sentenced to five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to second-degree assault.
Hoffman and three other men assaulted a man camping with his family in McCord Bend. The assault caused the victim to be sent to the hospital to be treated for his injuries. Hoffman’s home had recently burned, and he believed the victim was involved.