YANKTON, S.D. (AP) - Sentencing for the man convicted of killing a South Dakota woman in 2018 has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Joseph Lloyd James, of Norfolk, Nebraska was initially scheduled to be sentenced May 6 for killing Phyllis Hunhoff.
James earlier pleaded guilty in federal court in the Nov. 5, 2018 kidnapping, stabbing and strangulation of the 59-year-old Yankton woman.
Prosecutors say Hunhoff was abducted as she left her mother’s home in Utica, South Dakota.
James and another man entered her car before she could drive away and they drove to Norfolk. The other man left and James drove himself and Hunhoff to the reservation, authorities said.
After killing Hunhoff, James went to a gas station where surveillance video showed he pumped gas into a bottle. He later drove to a wooded spot on the reservation and set fire to Hunhoff’s body and her vehicle, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The Yankton Press & Dakotan says sentencing for James has been pushed back to June 24 at the federal courthouse in Omaha.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.