COLUMBIA, Mo. – One of five members of a Missouri family charged in the death of an Ohio drifter found frozen in a refrigerated trailer has been sentenced to life in prison.
Chad Michael Harvey tearfully apologized Monday to relatives of 20-year-old James William Boyd McNeely before a judge imposed the sentence. The 20-year-old Harvey had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, among other charges.
Harvey's father, stepmother and two younger brothers also are charged with murder.
McNeely's body was discovered last December in the refrigerated compartment of a tractor-trailer owned by Harvey's father, C.J. Harvey.
C.J. Harvey has said he became embroiled in a drug scheme with McNeely after his family fell on hard times. But he says it was an alleged attack on his wife and sons that led to McNeely's death.
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