A man found guilty of murder by a Cullman County jury last year has been sentenced to serve a 99-year prison sentence for his role in the death of Daniel Ray Osborn, II.

Osborn was 22 at the time of his death. His family in Hartselle reported him missing four years ago, launching an investigation that uncovered his buried body, more than a month later, on private property near Fairview.

Last week, Cullman County Circuit Judge Martha Williams sentenced Andrew Jacob Maresh to 99 years in prison for Osborn’s “intentional murder,” according to a release from the office of district attorney Wilson Blaylock. A Cullman County jury found Maresh guilty on the charge following a three-day trial last fall.

“As promised after his conviction in October, our office requested that Maresh be sentenced to life in prison. The testimony at trial revealed that Maresh and his accomplices took elaborate steps in the planning and the cover-up of their murder of Daniel Ray Osborn, II,” Blaylock said via the release.

“It is apparent that these actions were considered against Maresh by Judge Williams when she handed down the lengthy sentence…I was present at the scene when investigators removed Osborn’s body from the backyard grave, and it was an honor to represent the State and Osborn’s family at the sentencing hearing.”

The DA’s office added that it intended to move ahead with the prosecution of two other alleged accomplices in connection with Osborn’s death, now that the Maresh trial and sentencing are done. Also facing charges in connection with the case are Tyler Stephen Hudson, who was 23 at the time of his 2018 arrest, and Susan Smith — Maresh’s grandmother — of Fairview.

Investigators with the Hartselle Police Department and the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office reported discovering Osborn’s body buried on Smith’s property; Maresh and Hudson were later indicted in Cullman County for murder while Smith was indicting on a charge of hindering prosecution.

“Osborn was killed after suffering a gunshot wound to the back of his head. The defendants eventually returned to the property where they buried his body in a shovel-dug grave. They also took steps to stage a cover-up in an attempt to conceal that they had killed Osborn. Shortly after his disappearance, the family of Osborn filed a missing persons report with the Hartselle Police Department,” the DA’s office explained in its statement.

“At trial, the jury heard testimony that the defendants continued to use Osborn’s cellphone to mislead his family, friends, and law enforcement into believing that Osborn was still alive. Approximately seven weeks later, the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office went to the property, after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen, where they recovered Osborn’s body. Investigators then obtained evidence leading to the indictments issued against Maresh, Hudson, and Smith.”

Blaylock and assistant DA Jeff Roberts presented the state’s case at last week’s sentencing hearing. Because the two remaining co-defendants have conflicting defenses, said the DA’s office, Alabama law requires that their pending cases be tried separately.