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Sentencing is set for an Orange County man who took a plea deal on a tampering with physical evidence charge, which allowed for dismissal of a murder charge.

Joseph Allen Guidry, 44, is set for sentencing Jan. 19, according to information from the court.

Guidry took the plea in West’s courtroom during a pre-trial hearing.

The charges were in connection with the killing of Melinda Gail Murray, 45, of Orange County, who as reported missing on June 13, 2015, in that county.

Her remains were found July 6, 2015, in Port Arthur by workers walking along Old Yacht Club Road approximately 500 feet from the roadway.

The remains were found in and around a homemade wooden box. The body had been wrapped in a plastic shower curtain and a blue fleece blanket with a wolf design. The body was unidentifiable due to the decomposed state.

The remains were sent to the University of North Texas Anthropology Department for further testing and DNA was extracted from the bones thus identifying her as Murray.

Guidry was indicted in 2015 on the murder charge and in November 2021 was indicted for the tampering charge.