TAMPA, Fla. — An Upshur County woman pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice Tuesday, according to acting U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow.
Belenda Sandy, 56, of Buckhannon, was indicted on March 8 to hindering a kidnapping and death investigation by making false statements and omitting information during interviews with investigators.
An investigation began Nov. 27, 2016, after a victim went missing in Ormond Beach, Florida. Investigators said the victim relocated to Florida from Indiana to get away from her estranged husband, Jarvis Wayne Madison.
Madison was also in an intimate relationship with Sandy and had stayed with her at the residence. Sandy provided him with food, money and new tires for his vehicle.
Madison drove to Florida after the stop and located the victim as she was jogging. According to phone records, Madison talked to Sandy for 23 minutes prior to the victim’s disappearance. FBI agents later determined Madison had shot and killed her sometime after her disappearance.
During a Nov. 28, 2016 interview with investigators Sandy denied, having any recent contact with Madison. Sandy met Madison at a 7-Eleven after the interview, where she told him authorities were looking for him.
“Sandy’s misleading conduct towards the investigator ultimately delayed Madison’s arrest on federal kidnapping charges, and delayed the recovery of the victim’s body,” a press release said.
Madison buried the victim’s body in Tennessee before being arrested in Kentucky on Dec. 2, 2016.
He was charged with kidnapping that resulted in a death, interstate domestic violence and instate stalking. Madison’s trial date is set for the March 2018 trial term.