Man sentenced to 20 years for strangling girlfriend

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The boyfriend of an Arkansas woman was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison Tuesday afternoon for her May 19 strangulation death at a downtown Poplar Bluff apartment building.

Circuit Judge Michael Gardner sentenced Jeremy Allen Winkle "to just what we agreed to," said Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour.

The 29-year-old, who has addresses in Paragould, Arkansas, and Senath, Missouri, pleaded guilty earlier this month to felony involuntary manslaughter and felony abandonment of a corpse.

He pleaded guilty to strangling of Tiffani Noles, 28, of Paragould and abandoning her body without notifying authorities.

During Winkle's plea, Barbour said, Winkle told the court Noles' death occurred "while they were involved in intimacy. He had a belt around her neck, and she ended up being strangled."

Per the plea agreement, Barbour said, Gardner sentenced Winkle to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on the manslaughter charge and four years on the abandonment of a corpse charge.

The sentences, Barbour said, are to be served consecutively.

Charged as a prior and persistent offender on the manslaughter charge, Winkle faced an enhanced punishment. He was given the maximum sentence on both charges.

Before sentencing Winkle, Barbour said, Gardner heard victim impact statements from several of Noles' family members, including her father, stepmother, grandmother and stepgrandmother.

"It was compelling," Barbour said. "They made compelling statements, which, how do you deal with something like that?

"I hope it did them some good, [which is] what it's for."

Normally on a manslaughter charge, defendants do "a substantial portion" of their sentences, Barbour said.

Given Winkle's criminal history, "I would imagine he will be doing a substantial portion," Barbour said. "I can't tell you how much, but, with his priors, it'll be substantial."

Winkle previously had pleaded guilty to felony domestic assault Nov. 14, 2007, in Dunklin County and felony possession of paraphernalia to manufacture methamphetamine Nov. 29, 2012, in Randolph County, Ark.

Authorities learned of Noles' death at about 9:30 p.m. May 19 when the Poplar Bluff Police Department received a 911 call from a man living in the 400 block of South Broadway who reported a woman was dead inside his apartment. The caller reportedly was identified as Winkle's father.

The Butler County/Poplar Bluff Major Case Squad subsequently was activated to investigate Noles' death. Winkle was arrested on May 20 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, Mo.