Kingman woman who dismembered boyfriend sentenced to 4½ years in prison

KINGMAN, Ariz. — A Kingman woman who dismembered her boyfriend and collected his Social Security benefits for more than five years was sentenced Friday to 4½ years in prison.

Mary Killen, 57, pleaded guilty to theft of more than $56,000 in the case involving the 2010 death of William Felder, 71.

An investigative report said Felder had suicidal ideations and that Killen told a detective that she found him dead in his Mohave Valley home with pills in his mouth. Killen said she used a filet knife to dismember Felder where she found him on his bed, according to the report.

Killen told a detective that she put the body parts in plastic totes and covered them with cat litter because she thought it would delay decomposition and minimize odor.

Prosecutor Jace Zack said Killen’s actions were “ghastly” but that she was promised she wouldn’t be charged with abandonment of a body or tampering with evidence because she agreed to tell authorities where they could recover Felder’s body parts buried on her Kingman property.

The body parts were in plastic bags at two burial sites excavated in March.

Zack said the coroner has said she will be ruling Felder’s death as a drug overdose. He said Killen can still be charged with murder if it can be proved that she was involved in his death.