Billy Mack Walker

Billy Mack Walker, a 59-year-old male resident of Galena, Missouri, was the victim of a violent crime that began to unravel in late 2021. In mid-December of that year, a passerby made a grim discovery in a rural area of Dade County, northeast of Greenfield, Missouri. The body of a deceased male was found unclothed and face-down in the Sac River bottoms, approximately twenty-five feet off a county road near the old Hulston townsite. The location was a significant distance from Walker’s home in Stone County, prompting investigators to work across county lines to piece together the events leading to his death.

Authorities from the Missouri State Highway Patrol were able to identify the victim as Walker using a fingerprint scanner at the scene. An autopsy subsequently confirmed that he had died from a gunshot wound, and his death was ruled a homicide. Investigators determined that while the body had been discovered in Dade County, the murder itself had occurred weeks earlier, around November 20, 2021, at a residence in Galena. The perpetrators had then transported his remains to the remote location to conceal the crime.

The investigation quickly zeroed in on two suspects who knew the victim: 58-year-old Sheila Renee Phillips, identified as Walker's ex-girlfriend, and 55-year-old Gerald Keith Hoffman. Both were residents of Galena. In January 2022, they were arrested and initially charged with tampering with physical evidence. As detectives probed further and monitored jailhouse communications, the story evolved. Hoffman initially claimed responsibility for the shooting but later recanted, stating that he had only assisted in disposing of the body after Phillips shot Walker. Phillips eventually admitted to her role in the killing during phone calls made from jail.

Legal proceedings revealed that Phillips had shot Walker inside his home, and Hoffman had assisted her in moving the body to Dade County. Prosecutors upgraded the charges against Phillips to first-degree murder and armed criminal action. However, in November 2023, she reached a plea agreement, pleading guilty to the lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence. In March 2024, a judge sentenced her to six years in prison for each count, to be served concurrently. Hoffman, who pleaded guilty to two counts of tampering with physical evidence, also received a six-year prison sentence for his involvement in the cover-up.