Wife of suspect in trooper's killing charged with evidence tampering

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- The wife of a suspect in the killing of a state trooper was charged Friday with tampering with evidence in the case, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Coree Shockley, 23, of Van Buren, was being held at the Pemiscot County jail on $50,000 bond, said Sgt. Marty Elmore with the patrol. He said he could not provide additional details about the evidence tampering accusation.

Coree's husband, Lance Shockley, 28, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. He is accused of shooting to death Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr., 37, on March 20 outside of Graham's home near Van Buren.

Investigators said in court records that Shockley ambushed the law enforcer, after Graham focused on him as a suspect in a deadly hit-and-run wreck months earlier. Shockley was arrested March 23 and charged with leaving the scene of the fatal Nov. 26 accident Graham had investigated in Carter County.

Graham was killed while still in uniform and just after he had completed his shift for the day. The patrol has ruled that the 12-year veteran of the force was the 24th state trooper to die on the job.

An affidavit alleged that on the day of Graham's death, Shockley asked for directions to the officer's home. That afternoon, he allegedly borrowed his grandmother's red Pontiac Grand Am, which several witnesses said they saw parked on a secluded gravel road about three-tenths of a mile from Graham's house.

No listed number was available to reach the Shockleys' residence for comment.