A Twentynine Palms man accused of fatally stabbing and beating a man before dismembering and burning his corpse, has pleaded guilty to murder. James Britton Jr., 36, repeatedly stabbed and beat Robert Roudebush with a hammer in a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, home in early July 2002. After letting the corpse sit for days on an air mattress in the basement, Britton and his wife, Stacey, 48, also of Twentynine Palms, hauled the body to a remote area, where they dismembered and burned his corpse. Roudebush’s remains were found July 12, 2002; a torso and the air mattress in one burn barrel, and his head, hands and legs in another, but he was not identified for 16 months. An autopsy determined he had been stabbed nine times, had a broken nose, broken eye socket, fractured ribs and a broken right leg. James Britton pleaded guilty last week to third-degree murder and was immediately sentenced to 15 to 30 years in state prison. In August 2015, Stacey Britton came forward and confessed. She told police that she and James Britton killed Roudebush because he had stolen drugs and money from them, and that her ex-husband had conceived a plan to kill him that they rehearsed in advance. Stacey Britton is still awaiting trial. The Brittons’ Wilkes-Barre home burned down in 2002 in a blaze that was ruled an arson, after which they moved to Twentynine Palms.
