Brian E. Smith, 33, of St. Louis has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering Heather R. (Lewis) Beckley on Dec. 16, 2012, when she was 34, court records show.
Smith, formerly of Imperial and Arnold, killed Beckley, whose last known address was Pevely, by striking her several times in the head with a hammer, the report said.
After killing Beckley, Smith left her body in a wooded area near Butler Valley Drive and Antonia Valley Court in the Antonia area.
Smith was arrested Dec. 16, 2012, and was charged Dec. 20, 2012, with murder in the second degree, a class A felony that carries a penalty of 10 to 30 years or life imprisonment.
He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced on Aug. 4 by Jefferson County Div. 2 Circuit Judge Gary P. Kramer to two 30-year terms, one for second-degree murder and one for armed criminal action. However, the two terms are to be served concurrently, or at the same time, the report said.
Smith and Beckley had gone to a home in the 5800 block of Old Lemay Ferry Road in Imperial and the man who lives there allegedly told them about the wooded area, advising them that they could make meth there, the probable-cause statement said.
The man said he accompanied Smith and Beckley in a vehicle to the site, and then the man was driven back to his home before Smith and Beckley returned to the wooded area, the statement said.
Smith got a hammer while at the man’s property and took it with him, according to the report.
After Smith used the hammer to kill Beckley, he drove back to the home on Old Lemay Ferry, and the man who lives there noticed blood on his face, the statement said.
“When asked about the blood, Smith advised that (he) killed Beckley by striking (her) six times in the head,” according to the report.
Then, Smith got rid of the hammer and took the vehicle to a car wash and tried to wash away the blood, the report said.
Beckley’s body was found Dec. 16, 2012, after the Sheriff’s Office got a call about an unresponsive woman lying in the woods.
The body was turned over to the Medical Examiner’s Office, which completed an autopsy Dec. 17, 2012, and according to its report, Beckley died from trauma to the head caused by blunt force, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Steven W. Jerrrell handled the case.
Smith currently is in the South Central Correctional Center in Licking, where he already was serving a seven-year term for a drug charge.
He had been charged in December 2012, early in the homicide investigation, with possession of chemicals with the intent to manufacture a controlled substance, after he was found at a home in the 1000 block of Westward Trails in Imperial with three unopened boxes of pseudoephedrine, the report said.