A Missouri man, Dylan J. Hanger, has been sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for the murder of his estranged wife, Brittany Gorman. Hanger pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in May, for the death of 29-year-old Gorman.
According to a federal sentencing memorandum, Hanger had been planning to kill Gorman in the months leading up to her death. He even told a friend that he had it down to a day and time. In March 2020, Hanger considered buying a firearm, but decided against it because he did not want to explain why he needed it on Facebook.
On the day of the murder, Hanger met up with Gorman at a convenience store, where he gave her a $2,000 check for her part of their stimulus money. However, he knew the check would bounce. They met again later at the Buck Hollow access point at the Jacks Fork River, where Hanger stabbed Gorman multiple times and dumped her remains near a remote trailhead in the Mark Twain National Forest.
After the murder, Hanger asked friends to help him secure an alibi and suggested that Gorman had disappeared because of her “drug connections.” When he finally admitted to the murder and revealed the location of Gorman’s body on May 30, 2020, it was found to be no longer intact.
Gorman was a stay-at-home mom who enjoyed raising her three children, and spending time with family. She loved boating and tubing on the lake, and was described in an online obituary as having an outgoing personality.