Shawnee man pleads guilty to murdering 27-year-old mother in 2012

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SHAWNEE, Okla. – A Shawnee man has pleaded guilty to murdering a 27-year-old mother of two in 2012.

Samantha Weaver was reported missing in June of 2012.

For two and a half years, authorities and family members searched for the young mother who disappeared after seeing 42-year-old Troy Loveland.

“Reality tells me that she’s not alive because she wouldn’t be away from us this long. But there’s also that little tiny bit of hope that you have to hold onto that says you know she could still be there,” Samantha’s sister Cristy Busch said last June.

In March, investigators discovered human remains buried on a property in Pottawatomie County where Loveland used to live.

According to the Shawnee News-Star, District Attorney Richard Smothermon said Loveland hit Weaver over the head, strangled her with his bare hands and buried her body.

On Thursday, Loveland pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

When Weaver’s remains were discovered, Loveland was serving time for assaulting a woman in 2013.

A judge ruled that Loveland will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole for Weaver’s murder.

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