Amanda Perry Hayes, 46, who was previously convicted of murdering her then-husband’s ex-girlfriend, Laura Ackerson, 27, in North Carolina in 2011 has now also been found guilty of trying to help him dispose of her body in Texas
A woman who was previously convicted of murdering her then-husband’s ex-girlfriend in North Carolina has now also been found guilty of trying to help him dispose of that body in Texas.
Amanda Perry (Tucker) Hayes, 46, was convicted on Monday of the second-degree felony of tampering with evidence to impair its availability, for trying to dissolve the body of her ex-husband’s ex-girlfriend in acid and then tossing it into an alligator-infested lake in Texas.
She was first found guilty of second-degree murder of Laura Ackerson, 27, on February 18, 2014.
Grant Hayes, 39, shared two children with Ackerson, who she came over to pick up from the Hayes’ Raleigh, North Carolina apartment when the married couple murdered her in July of 2011.
Grant Hayes, 39 (left), shared two children with Ackerson, who she came over to pick up from the Hayes’ Raleigh, North Carolina apartment when the married couple murdered her in July of 2011; Amanda is seen here in a mugshot, at right
‘The jury verdict was swift and the Court’s sentence was appropriately harsh,’ lead prosecutor Amanda Bolin told WXII 12.
‘Laura Ackerson’s family can be assured that Amanda Hayes will be punished for all of her barbaric behavior – whether it was in North Carolina or the great state of Texas.’
On July 13, 2011, Amanda and Grant dismembered Ackerson’s body in their apartment, packed it in coolers and drove with it to the Richmond, Texas home of Amanda’s sister.
On July 13, 2011, Amanda and Grant dismembered the body of Laura Ackerson, 27 (pictured, in their apartment, packed it in coolers and drove with it to the Richmond, Texas home of Amanda’s sister
There, they tried to dissolve it with acid, and when that didn’t work they tossed it into an alligator-infested creek, but her body parts were discovered almost two weeks later
‘Once in Richmond, the couple first attempted to use muriatic acid to destroy Ackerson’s body,’ a press release from the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office stated.
‘When that didn’t work, they took a boat onto Oyster Creek and dumped Laura’s body parts into the water with hopes that alligators would eat her remains.’
But the Hayes’ plan to conceal the brutal murder was not successful.
Investigators found Ackerson’s torso and lower leg floating in Oyster Creek on July 24, 2011.
Dive teams later found more of Ackerson’s remains.
Amanda was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison by the Honorable Maggie Jaramillo of the 400th District Court in Texas for the tampering with the evidence charge.
The sentence will run consecutively to Amanda’s North Carolina sentence, which was 13 to 16.5 years in prison, beginning in 2014, WRAL reported.
Grant was found guilty of the first-degree murder of the mother of his children on September 16, 2013, after less than two hours of jury deliberation in a trial that lasted just three weeks.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Amanda gave birth to a daughter, fathered by Grant, on June 9, 2011. The two divorced in 2014.
Amanda has another adult child from a previous relationship, born in 1989.
Grant was Amanda’s fourth husband.
Grant was found guilty of the first-degree murder of the mother of his children on September 16, 2013, after less than two hours of jury deliberation in a trial that lasted just three weeks; He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole