A former Arivaca resident pleaded guilty Tuesday to dumping his girlfriend's former boyfriend down a mine shaft after she shot him to death with an AK-47.
Tommie Joe Holliday, 54, pleaded guilty to attempted concealment or abandonment of a dead human body in the November 2005 death of Bobby Lee Gatlin, 46.
As a result of his plea agreement, Holliday could be sentenced to probation or up to two years in prison when he is sentenced March 31 by Pima County Superior Court Judge Hector Campoy.
According to court documents, Pima County Sheriff's deputies began hearing rumors in October 2006 that Gatlin had been murdered in November 2005 and thrown down a mine shaft.
On June 1, 2007, detectives found Gatlin's body 15 feet underground wrapped up in a tarp, blankets and a sleeping bag. An autopsy showed he'd been shot several times.
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Stephanie Lynn Bartlett, 41, Holliday and Stacey Leigh Sharp, were arrested when Bartlett and Sharp made incriminating statements.
Court documents indicate Bartlett was involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Gatlin. For several years, they had been living in makeshift camps outside Arivaca with Bartlett three teenaged sons and other homeless people.
Bartlett pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing Gatlin after, she said, he came after her with an ax and threatened to kill her and her children.
Holliday and Sharp, who is Bartlett's sister, helped dump Gatlin's body in the mine shaft the following day.
Bartlett was sentenced to five years' probation Monday and 365 days in jail.
Holliday, who now lives in Butte, Mont., pleaded guilty during a telephone conference. Campoy told him he would not accept his guilty plea until Holliday's sentencing date, for which he must appear in person.
In related matters, Campoy issued an arrest warrant for Sharp, who failed to attend her own hearing Tuesday.
