POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) - A Moberly man will be sentenced in May after he was convicted of killing a Poplar Bluff man in 2014.
A Butler County jury deliberated only 38 minutes Thursday before finding Curtis Walker, 35, guilty of second-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree burglary in the death of 48-year-old Salavador Ruiz Ramirez, KFVS reported.
Ramirez's body was found in October 2014 along the southern banks of the Black River. He had been shot in the head, authorities said.
After his body was found, authorities found a car belonging to an acquaintance of Walker's that had been set on fire. They also discovered the Ramirez's home had been burglarized and set on fire.
Walker was arrested after a police pursuit Wright County. He was a passenger in a stolen vehicle.
Walker testified he shot Ramirez but said it was in self defense.