Man gets 60 years in Md. woman’s murder

A Somerset County judge has sentenced a 36-year-old man to 60 years in prison for killing a woman, then dismembering and burning her.

Joseph Hayman Jr. was sentenced Monday for killing Rhonda Lee Parks, whose charred skeletal remains were found in a 55-gallon drum 10 feet behind a house owned by one of Hayman’s relatives, where he used to live.

Hayman entered an Alford plea for first-degree murder and a weapons charge, meaning he does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.

Parks was missing for two years until North Carolina authorities contacted Somerset County Sheriff’s Office last year with a tip on where her remains could be found. Hayman was later extradited from North Carolina.