Jul 25, 2021

Kansas court upholds convictions in torture killing

Posted Jul 25, 2021 1:00 AM
Hillard photo KDOC
Hillard photo KDOC

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld most convictions against a Wichita woman for torturing and killing a man in a crime that the trial judge called “horrific beyond imagination.”

Heidi Hillard and her husband, Jeff, were convicted of participating in the November 2016 killing of 33-year-old Scottie Goodpaster Jr. of Wichita. She was sentenced in 2018 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 50 years.

Jeff Hillard is being held in the Hutchinson Correctional Facility -photo KDOC
Jeff Hillard is being held in the Hutchinson Correctional Facility -photo KDOC

The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed Heidi Hillard’s convictions and sentences for premeditated first-degree murder, felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery and rape. It overturned her conviction for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance after concluding the state presented insufficient evidence to support that charge.