OMAHA - A Norfolk man has been sentenced to life in federal prison for the death of a Yankton woman in 2018.

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that 49-year-old Joseph Lloyd James, of Norfolk, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Omaha to life imprisonment for First-Degree Murder.

Officials say on November 5th, 2018, James murdered Phyllis Hunhoff of Yankton, South Dakota, on the Santee Sioux Indian Reservation in Nebraska. 

There is no parole in the federal system. As part of his plea agreement, he waived his right to appeal, to seek a pardon, or seek a commutation.

Phyllis Hunhoff regularly traveled from her home in Yankton to her mother’s home in Utica, South Dakota. 

On November 4th, 2018, Phyllis Hunhoff left her mother’s home, alone, to drive home to Yankton.

Authorities say James and other men were near Phyllis Hunhoff’s mother’s home as she was leaving.  James and another man encountered Phyllis Hunhoff outside of the home and got into her car with her inside.

James, Phyllis Hunhoff, and another man traveled to Norfolk. When they arrived, James stayed in the car, and the other man left.

James drove Phyllis Hunhoff’s car, with her inside, to the Santee Sioux Indian Reservation in Knox County, Nebraska.

He then drove to a wooded location on the Reservation, where he set fire to Hunhoff’s body and her vehicle to conceal evidence of the murder.  He abandoned the body and vehicle and left the area.

Law enforcement officers investigated the murder and obtained evidence. Santee Police recovered the shirt James was wearing when he killed Phyllis Hunhoff.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nebraska State Patrol, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Santee Sioux Nation Tribal Police, Yankton County Sheriff’s Office, Yankton Police Department (South Dakota), Norfolk Police Department, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the Nebraska State Fire Marshal, and the Lincoln Police Department.