Missouri Man Sentenced for Killing, Dismembering Wife

A 61-year-old Missouri man was sentenced to 23 years in prison for killing and dismembering his wife before burying her in the Mark Twain National Forest.

John McLaughlin, of Sunset Hills, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter, evidence tampering and abandonment of a corpse. He was originally charged with second-degree murder.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports McLaughlin killed Linda McLaughlin in 2015 by throwing her down on a steel rack. He then dismembered her and drove about 160 miles (257.48 kilometers) southwest of St. Louis to bury her. Her body was found in April 2016.

The couple had been married 35 years when Linda McLaughlin filed for divorce. The couple was scheduled to appear in court in the divorce case three days after she disappeared.