TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO (AP) -- A man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for tampering with evidence in the murder of a Tucumcari woman.
New Mexico prosecutors say 37-year-old Dennis "D.J." Hendren was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum sentence.
He was about to go on trial in Tucumcari District Court, but opted to plead guilty to the tampering charges.
Authorities say 33-year-old Shirley Pacheco was killed in her driveway on July 9, 2011. She died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Hendren was charged with disposing of the clothes of the man accused of murdering Pacheco along with a firearm taken from her home.
Authorities say 21-year-old Randall Jones of Tucumcari is awaiting trial in Quay County District Court for first-degree murder.
State police arrested Jones about two weeks after the killing.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
