Woman sentenced in connection to St. Augustine woman's death

Police found Jordie Hudson body hidden near John Branson's home

St. Johns County Sheriff's Office booking photo of Christeen Janelle Thomas

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A woman charged with larceny and fraud after last year's murder of a 46-year-old St. Augustine artist was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison.

Prosecutors said Christeen Janelle Thomas acted as a lookout as John Harry Branson III loaded Jordie Hudson's body in the back seat of his car in April 2016. Days later, after Hudson's body was found on Branson's property on County Road 208, he was charged with murder and Thomas was arrested as an accomplice.

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Earlier this month, Branson was sentenced to 40 years for second-degree murder and 10 years for mutilating a body.

Hudson was an artist who had several exhibits throughout North Florida.