Prosecutor: Man thought Tena Broadus was a snitch, killed her

GULFPORT -- A man accused with his girlfriend in the murder of Tena Marie Broadus thought Broadus was going to "snitch" about him to police, a prosecutor said.

Broadus' skeletal remains were found Oct. 7 in the Biloxi River while Gulfport police investigated a missing-person report that led them to three apparent crime scenes. Broadus' mother had reported her missing Sept. 25, about a week after police believe she was killed.

Joshua Anthony Peterman, 28, and Kari Michelle Parker, 34, are accused of cutting Broadus with a knife or a machete Sept. 18 at Peterman's home on O'Neal Road.

Justice Court Judge Melvin Ray was scheduled to preside over preliminary hearings in the case Wednesday in the Harrison County jail courtroom. Peterman and Parker waived their hearings. Their cases will go to a grand jury, Harrison County prosecuting attorney Herman Cox said.

Peterman is held on a $1 million bond and a warrant from the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Parker's bond is $250,000.

Two others face accessory charges.

Had the hearings taken place, a Gulfport police investigator would have testified Broadus, 29, was last seen with Peterman on Sept. 17, Cox said. Peterman thought Broadus was going to talk to police about him in an unrelated misdemeanor case, the investigator said.

Investigators believe Peterman and Parker held Broadus captive at Peterman's home on O'Neal Road and attacked and killed her Sept. 18.

Testimony would have revealed they put her remains in a plastic container and carried the box to woods on the east end of O'Neal near Mississippi 605, where she was set on fire in a burn barrel, Cox said.

Police were beginning to figure out what happened, he said, and called for divers to search for skeletal remains in the Biloxi River.

Police arrested Peterman on Oct. 10 on a warrant from the state Department of Corrections.

Police believed the remains, including a skull, were those of Broadus, but did not release her name until forensic analysts identified her through dental records and DNA, Cox said.

Police identified Peterman as a suspect in a news conference Oct. 30 and began arresting the others.

Aaron Dale Bobinger, 30, and Devin Deshaun Gregory, 18, each face a charge of accessory after the fact of murder. They reportedly helped dispose of the remains, Cox said.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Prosecutor: Man thought Tena Broadus was a snitch, killed her ."