Johnny Edwards Malisham and Cynthia Hoover (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office); Investigators digging up Hoover’s remains in Malisham’s backyard (YouTube:WEAR screenshot)
A 62-year-old man in Florida will spend several decades behind bars for killing a woman by hitting her in the head with a hatchet and burying her body underneath a burn pit in his backyard. Santa Rosa County Circuit Court Judge Clifton Alan Drake ordered Johnny Edwards Malisham to serve a sentence of 25 years in a state correctional facility for the 2021 slaying of Cynthia Hoover, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Malisham last month pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon convicted in another state. Judge Drake sentenced Malisham to 15 years on the latter charge, to be served concurrent, meaning at the same time, as the murder sentence.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Hoover’s family first reported her missing by her family on March 15, 2021, one day before her car was found abandoned on the side of the interstate. Her family members told police that Hoover typically called almost every day, but they had been unable to get in touch with her for several weeks.
Hoover remained a missing person for nearly two months, until a tipster contacted the sheriff’s department in Butler County, Alabama, and said that Malisham “killed Cynthia Hoover with a hatchet and buried her in the backyard of his residence underneath a burn pit.” The tipster also stated that Malisham tried to get his neighbor to assist him with Hoover’s body and that another friend picked Malisham up after he abandoned her car.
Police interviewed the neighbor, who confirmed that she knew about Hoover being killed and recounted the events of that evening.
“Johnny [Malisham] told her that he killed [Hoover] by hitting her over the head with something. [Malisham] told [the neighbor] that he hit her so hard it cracked her skull open. Malisham told [the neighbor] that she had better come be his lookout while he buried her in the backyard or she would regret it,” the affidavit stated.
The neighbor said she stood in the backyard and was “watching out for cars” when she heard “loud thumps,” which she said turned out to be the sound of Malisham dragging Hoover’s body down his steps. The neighbor told police she “couldn’t handle the sound of Hoover’s body hitting the steps” so she “ran to her house and locked the door.”
According to the neighbor, Malisham told her that he killed Hoover because “he thought she was trying to steal from him.” The history between Malisham and Hoover is unclear.
A search warrant was executed at Malisham’s home and authorities found blood spatter that was consistent with someone suffering a severe blunt force trauma injury. Cadaver dogs indicated human remains were buried beneath the burn pit in Malisham’s backyard, which was dug up and led to police discovering the remains of an adult female that was later identified as Hoover.
When questioned, Malisham initially told police that if there was a body buried in his backyard he had “nothing to do with it.” He then claimed that he knew who killed Hoover, but refused to divulge the name of the killer.
When a detective asked Malisham, “Are you going to take this killing to your grave?” he responded by saying, “If I have to,” the affidavit states.
Police also recovered a 20-gauge Maverick shotgun in Malisham’s closet, leading to the firearms charge.
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