Woman sentenced for hindering prosecution in Red Roof Inn murder

COLUMBIA — On Monday, a Columbia woman was sentenced to five years of supervised probation for hindering the prosecution of felony in connection with the 2009 murder of a woman at a Red Roof Inn.

Nicole Palmer, 21, was connected with Blake Logan in the Oct. 8, 2009, murder of Nicole Crumby, who was found in the Red Roof Inn parking lot. The murder was linked to a drug deal gone bad, according to a previous Missourian article.

About an hour after the murder, the Boone County Sheriff's Department found a car at the Midway Travel Plaza. Logan and Palmer were in the car, and police thought the two were preparing to flee the area, according to the article. 

Palmer was charged with hindering a prosecution because she provided Logan with transportation. Police don't think she was present at the incident, and Palmer told police in an interview that she was asleep in her apartment at the time of the homicide, according to the previous article. 

In October 2009, Palmer's attorney, Stephen Wyse, submitted a Missouri Sunshine Request to retrieve surveillance footage of the Columbia Police Department holding area and lobby. Wyse wasn't allowed to see Palmer the night she was arrested, but the two communicated through a cellphone Palmer was able to sneak into the holding area.