Poplar Bluff man gets 18 years for murder

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff man will spend the next 18 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections after his guilty plea last week in the Circuit Court of Wayne County.

Ricky Hurt pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Edward Goodwin, who was reported missing in July 2015 and whose body was later found in a Butler County pond.

"This plea happened on the morning of the jury trial after negotiations between Hurt's attorney and the state," said Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kacey Proctor.

After Goodwin was reported missing, the Butler County Sheriff's Department began a two-year search for him, according to earlier reports. Goodwin's remains were recovered in 2017 in a pond on County Road 572 in Butler County.

Another man, Eldred Smith, was identified as a suspect, Proctor said in a news release, because he had property belonging to Goodwin, who was 32 when he was reported missing by his mother.

"Smith was arrested and ultimately charged with murder in the first degree for acting in concert with Ricky Hurt," Proctor said.

Smith later told Sheriff Mark Dobbs that Hurt shot Goodwin, earlier reports said, and that his only involvement was to drive Goodwin to the area where he was shot.

"He said when Ed got out of the vehicle, he saw Ricky Hurt come running up behind him with a gun and begin firing at Ed," Dobbs said of that 2017 interview with Smith. " ... Ed took off running, and Ricky chased after him. At some point, he seen Ed Goodwin splash into the pond and not get back up."

Smith subsequently was offered a 12-year sentence on a charge of second-degree accessory to murder if he would cooperate in the case against Hurt.

"I am hopeful the Goodwin family can finally get closure and begin the healing process," Proctor said.

"It was a long, difficult road to get to this point, and I am glad that the defendant is finally going to prison for what he did," he added.

Proctor noted the Butler County Sheriff's Department was persistent in the case and thanked them for "never giving up on finding Edward Goodwin and solving a very difficult case."