Mountain View man sentenced to 21 years for murdering his wife in a national park

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

A Mountain View, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for murdering his estranged wife during an argument when they met in a national park.

Dylan J. Hanger, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison without parole.

On May 10, 2022, Hanger pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree. Hanger admitted that he met his estranged wife, Brittany Gorman, at the Buck Hollow Access Area, along the Jacks Fork River, within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Texas County, Mo., on May 20, 2020. An argument ensued, during which Hanger stabbed Gorman several times in the chest, which caused her death.

According to court documents, Hanger began planning to kill his wife (with whom he shared three children ages 5, 7, and 10) in the months leading up to May 2020. When they met at the Buck Hollow Access Area, Hanger stabbed his wife at least four times. He took her body and dumped it in a remote location.

For nine days, Hanger maintained to both Gorman’s family and law enforcement that Gorman was missing and suggested that it was due to her drug connections. He finally admitted what he had done and revealed the location of Gorman’s body on May 30, 2020.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Josephine L. Stockard. It was investigated by the Texas County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.