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Two Plead Guilty in Area Murder Case

By MSC News

10/19/2015

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Kelli Hoard

Sean Liechti

(KNZA)--Two of three people charged in the April stabbing death of a St. Joseph man have pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder.

The St. Joseph News Press reports 44-year-old Elwood, Kansas resident Kelli Hoard and 25-year-old Sean Liechti, of St. Joseph, entered the guilty pleas Friday in a Buchanan County courtroom as part of a plea deal.

Hoard had been charged with first-degree murder and two other felony counts.

Hoard is to be sentenced December 14th, and Liechti is set for sentencing this Friday.

Also charged in the case is 22-year-old St. Joseph resident Primalton Peterson III. He faces a jury trial in January on charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and abandonment of a corpse.

The trio are charged in the stabbing death of 28-year-old Richard Berry. His body was found in the Third Fork of the Platte River near Easton, Missouri on April 25th.

Authorities believe he was taken to the remote location in a robbery attempt. Berry was stabbed multiple times and then dumped into the river.