OZARK, Mo. -- A first-degree murder trial abruptly ended on Tuesday afternoon when a woman from Nixa pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.  Under a plea agreement with the Christian County prosecuting attorney, Crystal Broyles likely will receive a 12- or 13-year prison sentence for second-degree murder.

Investigators said Broyles is one of two people who injected David Masters with a lethal dose of cocaine on March 1, 2005, and dumped his body next to the James River west of Nixa.  Until Tuesday, she was charged with first-degree murder and faced a possible death penalty if she were convicted.

  Attorneys and the judge picked a jury in Rolla on Monday.  The jury came to Ozark on Monday night and heard opening statements and the beginning of testimony before Broyles’ attorney and Prosecuting Attorney Ron Cleek negotiated the plea agreement.

  Cleek recommends a 13-year sentence and Broyles’ attorney is asking for a 12-year sentence.  The prison sentence for second-degree murder could be between 10 and 30 years.  Circuit Judge John Moody of Mansfield scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 14.

  Masters is a former prosecuting attorney in Macon County, Mo.  Investigators said Broyles, Masters and Thomas Naumann were roommates in Nixa who got in a dispute because the other two said Masters owed them money for rent.

  Detectives believe Naumann and Broyles tied Masters to a chair with plastic ties, threatened him with a gun and then injected him with cocaine.  An autopsy showed Masters’ body had 40 times a lethal dose of cocaine in his body.

  Masters, 52, was Macon County prosecuting attorney for eight years in the 1990s.  Friends and family members say something happened that caused him to abandon his life in north Missouri.  He was the father of seven.

  Naumann is scheduled for trial on Dec. 2 for first-degree murder, also before Judge Moody.  Broyles’ sister, Brandi Storment of Bolivar, was charged for Masters’ death along with Naumann and Broyles but Cleek dropped the charge against her as the investigation continued.