Minutes before he was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Heather "Helena" Hoffmann — a crime that Judge Gregory Lammons described as "one of the most horrific crimes ever committed in this community" — Jeffrey Scott Etheridge tried to withdraw his guilty plea.
The 27-year-old transient, who pleaded guilty in 8th Judicial District Court on Jan. 8 to avoid the death penalty, asked Monday for his plea to be reversed and for a new attorney, in part because he claimed he was threatened with the death penalty, according to his motion in court. The judge denied that request Monday, saying that Etheridge knew what he was agreeing to when he entered the plea and that the evidence against him was overwhelming.
