Murder in McCord Bend: two charged in connection to body found in rural Dade County
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Shana Harter
A Galena woman is charged with the murder of a man she shared a home with.
Sheila Phillips, 57, of Galena, is being charged with the shooting death of 58-year-old Billy Mack Walker at their residence at 85 Lakeview Lane in McCord Bend near Galena.
Phillips was initially charged with tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution; however, new evidence in the case has resulted in the Stone County Prosecutor’s Office seeking First Degree Murder charges against Phillips.
According to the Missouri Highway Patrol (MHP), the Dade County Sheriff’s Department contacted them on Dec. 15, 2021, after a person walking near County Road 187, north of Route EE, in Dade County, near the old Huston Mill townsite, discovered Billy Mac Walker’s body.
Walker’s unclothed body was found 20-25 feet off the road in the Sac River Bottoms. According to a probable cause statement issued by the Missouri Highway Patrol, the body was identified as 58-year-old Billy Mack Walker of Galena, using a fingerprint scanner at the scene.
Authorities believe Walker was murdered on Nov. 20, 2021.
On Dec. 16, 2021, Sheila Phillips, identifying herself as Walker’s ex-girlfriend, was interviewed at the residence at 85 Lakeview Lane in McCord Bend that she shared with Walker.
On Jan. 13, 2022, authorities interviewed Gerald Keith Hoffman, 54, Galena. Hoffman told investigators that he shot Walker three times with a .22 caliber gun as Walker sat in a chair in the living room of Walker’s residence on Lakeview Lane.
Hoffman told investigators that he and Phillips wrapped Walker’s body in a blanket and dumped his body off the edge of a gravel road by Stockton Lake. Hoffman said he and Phillips returned to the home shared by Phillips and Walker in McCord Bend and that he helped Phillips burn the clothes Walker had been wearing, the blanket they transported him in, and the chair Walker had been sitting in when he was shot.
Phillips and Hoffman were each charged with two counts of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution for hiding Walker’s body and destroying evidence relating to a murder.
During a follow-up interview the next day with Sgt. Travis Hitchcock of the MHP, Hoffman changed his story. Hoffman told Sgt. Hitchcock that Phillips had come to a storage unit at 110 Lakeview Lane, where he lived, and told him she had shot Walker. Hoffman says Phillips asked him to help her dispose of the body, and Hoffman agreed. He also admitted to destroying evidence in the case.
“On Jan. 14, 2022, I received two recorded phone calls that had been recovered at the Stone County Jail. Both calls had been made by Shelia Phillips to two separate individuals early on Jan. 14, 2022, while she was incarcerated. During both calls, Sheila Phillips stated to the other people that she was not going to allow someone else to suffer for something she had done,” Sgt. Hitchcock stated in a probable cause statement.
Hitchcock said it is clear that Philips was saying she was responsible for Walker’s death.
Stone County prosecutors will seek first-degree murder charges against Sheila Phillips based on the new information.
Billy Mack Walker was convicted of second-degree murder in 1997 for the 1996 stabbing death of Troy Joe Reagan, Sr., in southern Stone County.
Walker had maintained during his trial that another man was responsible for having Reagan killed over drugs by hiring an assassin from Arkansas. Though he denied killing Reagan, Walker admitted he was present at the time of the murder.
A Galena woman is charged with the murder of a man she shared a home with.
Sheila Phillips, 57, of Galena, is being charged with the shooting death of 58-year-old Billy Mack Walker at their residence at 85 Lakeview Lane in McCord Bend near Galena.
Phillips was initially charged with tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution; however, new evidence in the case has resulted in the Stone County Prosecutor’s Office seeking First Degree Murder charges against Phillips.
According to the Missouri Highway Patrol (MHP), the Dade County Sheriff’s Department contacted them on Dec. 15, 2021, after a person walking near County Road 187, north of Route EE, in Dade County, near the old Huston Mill townsite, discovered Billy Mac Walker’s body.
Walker’s unclothed body was found 20-25 feet off the road in the Sac River Bottoms. According to a probable cause statement issued by the Missouri Highway Patrol, the body was identified as 58-year-old Billy Mack Walker of Galena, using a fingerprint scanner at the scene.
Authorities believe Walker was murdered on Nov. 20, 2021.
On Dec. 16, 2021, Sheila Phillips, identifying herself as Walker’s ex-girlfriend, was interviewed at the residence at 85 Lakeview Lane in McCord Bend that she shared with Walker.
On Jan. 13, 2022, authorities interviewed Gerald Keith Hoffman, 54, Galena. Hoffman told investigators that he shot Walker three times with a .22 caliber gun as Walker sat in a chair in the living room of Walker’s residence on Lakeview Lane.
Hoffman told investigators that he and Phillips wrapped Walker’s body in a blanket and dumped his body off the edge of a gravel road by Stockton Lake. Hoffman said he and Phillips returned to the home shared by Phillips and Walker in McCord Bend and that he helped Phillips burn the clothes Walker had been wearing, the blanket they transported him in, and the chair Walker had been sitting in when he was shot.
Phillips and Hoffman were each charged with two counts of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution for hiding Walker’s body and destroying evidence relating to a murder.
During a follow-up interview the next day with Sgt. Travis Hitchcock of the MHP, Hoffman changed his story. Hoffman told Sgt. Hitchcock that Phillips had come to a storage unit at 110 Lakeview Lane, where he lived, and told him she had shot Walker. Hoffman says Phillips asked him to help her dispose of the body, and Hoffman agreed. He also admitted to destroying evidence in the case.
“On Jan. 14, 2022, I received two recorded phone calls that had been recovered at the Stone County Jail. Both calls had been made by Shelia Phillips to two separate individuals early on Jan. 14, 2022, while she was incarcerated. During both calls, Sheila Phillips stated to the other people that she was not going to allow someone else to suffer for something she had done,” Sgt. Hitchcock stated in a probable cause statement.
Hitchcock said it is clear that Philips was saying she was responsible for Walker’s death.
Stone County prosecutors will seek first-degree murder charges against Sheila Phillips based on the new information.
Billy Mack Walker was convicted of second-degree murder in 1997 for the 1996 stabbing death of Troy Joe Reagan, Sr., in southern Stone County.
Walker had maintained during his trial that another man was responsible for having Reagan killed over drugs by hiring an assassin from Arkansas. Though he denied killing Reagan, Walker admitted he was present at the time of the murder.