Jefferson County man sentenced to prison time

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- A Jefferson County man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was convicted of murdering the husband of a woman he claims asked him to do the killing.

Charles Miller, 49, of De Soto, was sentenced Friday to two concurrent 25-year terms in the shooting death of Larry Holman, 44, of Festus. Holman was found dead in his car on a wooded road near Festus on Nov. 21, 2000.

Miller said he killed Holman because he was in love with Holman's wife, Tammy, who asked him to kill her husband. Miller told Judge Jeff Schaeperkoetter he had been emotionally disturbed and medicated at the time of the killing and was unable to refuse Tammy Holman's demands.

"I wish I had been strong enough to turn her in as a cheating wife, but I couldn't," Miller said. "Every time I tried, she talked me out of it."

In January, while a jury was considering its verdict, Tammy Holman, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit the killing. She was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Miller said he had hoped to move in with her and her children.

During Tammy Holman's trial, Miller said he shot Larry Holman with a rifle, then called the man's wife on a cell phone to tell her "there'd be one less plate for dinner." Miller testified he later became angry when Tammy Holman would not talk with him and changed her telephone number, and that he learned after his arrest that Tammy Holman had moved in with another man.