A man accused of playing a part in the stabbing death of a St. Joseph man found dumped in the Platte River last April entered an unexpected plea of guilty during a jury trial Wednesday.

A murder trial began Tuesday for Primalton Peterson, 23 of St. Joseph.  

Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins said the jury had been selected and witnesses had been scheduled when Peterson unexpectedly indicated to his lawyer that he wished to plead guilty.

Peterson pleaded guilty to all of the charges against him, including the lessor included offense of second-degree murder (correct), armed criminal action, and abandonment of a corpse. This was not a plea agreement.

Judge Daniel Kellogg scheduled sentencing March 7.

Peterson and two others were charged with stabbing Richard Berry to death and dumping Berry’s body in the third fork of the Platte River where he was later found.

Also charged were Kelli Hoard, 44 of Elwood, Kan. and Sean Liechti, 25 of St. Joseph.  Hoard pleaded guilty in October to a charge of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.  Leichti also pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Scroggins said Peterson could face 10-30 or life for the count of first-degree murder with a required 85-percent of the sentence served before he would be eligible for parole, 3 to an unlimited number of years for armed criminal action and one day to a maximum of four years on the charge of abandonment of a corpse.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled is scheduled for March 7th.