Troy Freeman Hockett, 47, of Clarkdale, has been sentenced to 20.5 years in the Arizona State Prison for the crimes of Manslaughter Committed While Under the Influence of Methamphetamine, Concealment of a Dead Body, and Attempted Transportation of Dangerous Drugs for Sale. Hockett was sentenced on July 25, 2022, by the Honorable Michael R. Bluff of the Yavapai County Superior Court.
The case stems from November 18, 2020, when it was reported there was a person, possibly deceased, under a trailer at 9 Rincon in the town of Clarkdale. Clarkdale police officers responded to the property where they found a body concealed under a plastic tarp in a blue water storage barrel. The victim, Marc Fretty, had been living in a camper on the same property as Hockett. During an investigative interview, Hockett admitted to officers to having killed the victim while high on methamphetamine. Upon further investigation, police located the murder weapon, a metal bat with a large amount of blood and hair on it. Shortly before being arrested for the murder, Hockett had bonded out of jail on an unrelated charge of Transportation of Methamphetamine for Sale.
“This terrible murder has caused a lot of trauma to Mr. Fretty’s loved ones. We can only hope that this lengthy prison sentence brings them some degree of healing,” said Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, who also thanked the Clarkdale Police Department for their “strong investigation which led to the guilty convictions, and the two assigned prosecutors for their hard work to successfully prosecute the cases and bring closure for the victim’s family.”