NORWICH – A Sherburne man who helped hide the body of a slain home invader in an attempted drug robbery pleaded guilty in court Monday.

Nicholas S. Simonds, 22, of Pleasant Valley Road, Sherburne, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence (E felony). Simonds admitted that he helped his neighbor and close friend Robert R. Reynolds move the body of Joshua D. Richheimer, 32, in July.

Simonds, who has been out of jail, was sentenced to six months in the local jail beginning Jan. 2.

Following a lenghty police investigation, it was established that Richheimer was killed by Reynolds in self-defense. Reynolds, who was the target of the invasion because he was a local marijuana dealer and served time in prison for a prior criminal drug conviction, decided to hide the body instead of reporting the incident to police. Simonds, who was nearby at the time of the shooting, helped move the body.

Simonds only said that he helped to move the body, not dispose of it. Simonds then said, “I’m sorry for what I did. I apologize to the court, the family and to Ms. Richheimer (the victim’s mother).”

Judge W. Howard Sullivan told Simonds to turn around and face the mother of the victim, Regina Richheimer, while making his apology. The mother also read a letter to the court before Simonds’ sentencing.

“He might have been just somebody to you, but he was my son to me. Because of you, I was unable to see my son one last time because of the state his body was in,” said Richheimer.