04/18/16   Monticello Woman Receives A Total Of 30 Years

A Drew County Circuit Court jury convicted a Monticello woman on Friday in the death of a Hamburg man. Thirty year old Heather Hackett was found guilty of manslaughter and abuse of a corpse in the death of 41 year old Sam Arnold Jr.

Circuit Judge Sam Pope sentenced Hackett to 10 years in prison on each charge, with the terms to run consecutively. Hackett was also fined $20,000.00.

Hackett was charged with first degree murder last August after Arnold's remains were found on private property in Drew County. Arnold's family had filed a missing persons report in July. Hackett had said she shot Arnold multiple times in self defense. The prosecution countered that the shooting was not self defense.