CAMDENTON, Mo. (AP) - The last of four suspects has pleaded guilty to participating in the killing of a southwest Missouri couple and a man who was dating their daughter.
Benjamin Stidham, 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the death of Zachary Porter, of Elkland, and to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jeff and Glenda Smith at their home in Phillipsburg. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Porter's death, but he won't be sentenced for the Smiths' deaths until next year.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped four other charges against Stidham, who was 16 at the time of the killings but who was tried as an adult.
Another defendant, Joshua Reyes, had dated the Smiths' daughter, Miranda Smith, who was dating Porter at the time of his death.
Prosecutors said Miranda Smith called emergency personnel to her Lebanon apartment on Oct. 10, 2009, where they found Porter, 25, dead from a gunshot wound. She told officers she couldn't get in touch with her father and stepmother. A relative went to the couple's home in rural Phillipsburg and found Jeff Smith, 51, and Glenda Smith, 48, lying on the living room floor. They, too, had been shot to death.
Miranda Smith, who had two children with Reyes, had sought orders of protection against him at least three times, but her last order, filed on Sept. 17, 2009, was lifted at her request just days before the murders.
Another suspect, Jacky Wong, told investigators that Reyes had said he wanted to kill Miranda Smith over custody issues and because, "she was cheating on him by dating another man."