JBLM Soldier Pleads Guilty To Wife's Murder

A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to second-degree murder, domestic violence, in connection with the February strangulation death of his wife, also an Iraq War veteran and the mother of their 2-year-old daughter.

Sheldon Plummer, 28, was composed during Wednesday’s hearing and calmly answered Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy’s question of how he wanted to plea with an answer of “guilty, your honor.”

Plummer had returned from his third deployment to Iraq in August, according to a Joint Base Lewis-McChord spokesman. According to court papers, Sheldon Plummer admitted to strangling his wife, Winter, after a dispute at their apartment near Lacey on Feb. 19. Sheldon Plummer told detectives that “he strangled his wife after she attacked him with a knife during an argument.”

Thurston County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jodilyn Erikson-Muldrew has agreed to recommend that Sheldon Plummer serve about 14-and-a-half years in prison in return for his guilty plea. A judge however, is not bound by the sentencing agreement. His sentencing is set for Aug. 20.

Thurston County sheriff’s detectives began investigating Winter Plummer’s disappearance on April 18, after one of Sheldon Plummer’s friends, also an Army soldier, called the sheriff’s office to say that Sheldon Plummer had called him and “wanted advice on how to dispose of a body,” court papers state.

When detectives spoke with Sheldon Plummer, he said that about a month earlier, his wife had packed three suitcases and left after an argument. But Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy has said that Sheldon Plummer’s timeline of when his wife left was inconsistent.

Detectives later found that Sheldon Plummer had pawned his wife’s jewelry, Mealy has said. Detectives also thought it was suspicious that Winter Plummer’s car was still parked at the apartment complex at The Village at Nisquallly Ridge Apartments. They also thought it odd that she would abandon her 2-year-old daughter.

A prosecutor later said that Sheldon Plummer had disposed of some of Winter Plummer’s belongings in order to make it appear as though she had left. The prosecutor added that he even sent text messages from her cell phone to her family members in Arizona in an effort to make them believe she was still alive.

After detectives initially interviewed Sheldon Plummer on April 18, he removed Winter Plummer’s body from a local storage unit and placed her in his garage, court papers state. Soon thereafter, Sheldon Plummer admitted to his wife’s homicide, Mealy has said.

Detectives found Winter Plummer, 27 stuffed in a storage container in her husband’s garage on the morning of April 23. Erikson-Muldrew said that Winter Plummer’s family from Arizona will be in attendance for Sheldon Plummer’s Aug. 20 sentencing.

Read more here.