A Twentynine Palms man and his ex-wife are behind bars in Pennsylvania, accused of murdering, dismembering, and burning the body of a man they say stole drugs and money from them more than a decade ago. Police in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, say Stacy Britton, 46, showed police text messages earlier this month between herself and her ex-husband, James Britton, 35, of the 4600 block of Saddlehorn Road in Twentynine Palms, in which they discussed the July 2002 murder of Robert Roudebush, 46. Stacy Britton told police they rehearsed the murder of Roudebush the day before, and then used knives and hammers to kill him. Police say Stacy Britton admitted to dismembering Roudebush, and then they put his body parts into 55-gallon barrels on a remote piece of property, which James set on fire. A trucker found the smoldering barrels and called police. It took police 16 months to identify the remains. Police questioned James Britton several times about the murder, and he testified in front of a grand jury in 2008, but he blamed another man for the killing. Police believe the Brittons burned their house in Pennsylvania and moved to California, where they subsequently divorced, but still kept in touch. Stacy Britton and James Britton were charged Friday in Pennsylvania with murder, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, abuse of a corpse, perjury, false swearing and hindering prosecution by concealing or destroying evidence. They are being held without bail.
