Sheriff: Feds will get custody of Clay Waller before prison transfer

Clay Waller still was being held in the Cape Girardeau County Jail in Jackson on Friday, but he will likely be transferred back into the custody of federal authorities sometime this week before he heads to state prison for his second-degree murder conviction in the death of his estranged wife, Jacque Waller, Sheriff John Jordan said.

Clay Waller pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder charge and received a 20-year state prison sentence. He was in the county jail to await trial when a plea deal was reached in the case. Federal authorities previously held Clay Waller for a federal Internet threat conviction. He received a maximum five-year sentence for an Internet threat he wrote in 2011 to Jacque Waller's sister, Cheryl Brenneke, saying he would kill her.

Jordan said he was not sure of the location of the federal prison where Clay Waller will be held, but Waller previously served time in Louisiana. The U.S. Marshals Service will coordinate a transfer of Clay Waller to state prison at a later date. According to online court records, Clay Waller's state prison sentence will run "concurrent with any sentence currently serving."

Pertinent address:

216 N. Missouri St., Jackson, MO