ST. LOUIS – A southeast Missouri man already in prison for killing his wife an burying her body on an island in the Mississippi River was sentenced to 35 more years in prison Tuesday after a guilty plea.
James Clay Waller II was indicted for interstate domestic violence in May of 2016. On Oct. 5, he pleaded guilty and on Tuesday he received his punishment.
The indictment said Waller traveled between Illinois and Missouri in June 2011 with the intent to kill his wife, Jacque Waller.
Clay Waller, of Jackson, was arrested in his wife's death in 2012. A year later, he led authorities to the island where he buried the body, in exchange for a guilty plea to second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder. He received a 20-year sentence.
In his most recent plea, Waller was sentenced to 35 years in prison, five years of probation and asked to pay $100 in penalties.
In addition to that punishment, financial restrictions have been placed on a manuscript that FBI officers found Waller working on in March of 2016. According to the plea deal, money made from the work — entitled "'If You Take My Kids, I'll Kill You': The Public Confession of Missouri's Most Notorious Wife Killers" — will go to cover the costs associated with the case, including prosecution, court and restitution costs.
The couple's triplets, age 10, live with Jacque Waller's sister.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
