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A 39-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing his live-in girlfriend nearly two decades ago at their Magna home.
Billy Justin Charles pleaded guilty to second-degree felony manslaughter in the beating death of 18-year-old Jamie Ellen Weiss, who was found dead in a bathtub on Aug. 7, 1996.
Charles — who was initially charged in 3rd District Court with first-degree felony murder — had already been convicted at a previous trial, but that verdict was overturned on appeal.
On Tuesday, Charles entered a so-called Alford plea, meaning he does not admit guilt but acknowledges that evidence against him would likely secure a conviction at trial.
According to his plea agreement, prosecutors will not recommend that Charles go to prison when he is sentenced Oct. 5 by Judge Mark Kouris.
Instead, they will ask that the defendant — who has been behind bars since he was charged in November 2007 — serve an additional year in jail, followed by a three-year probation period.
Weiss was found by Charles' sister submerged in the bathtub, but an autopsy showed she died from blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation, and there was no water in her lungs.
Utah Medical Examiner Todd Grey estimated Weiss most likely died between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., when Charles — who claimed he left for his job as a bricklayer at about 6 a.m. — was the only possible suspect.
A jury in 2009 convicted Charles of murder. But two years later, the Utah Court of Appeals found the defendant had received ineffective assistance from his defense attorney and should get a new trial.
In his appeal, Charles said his defense attorney failed to present evidence that would have corroborated his story that his girlfriend was alive when he left for work.
The appeals court also found the defense failed to put Weiss' cousin, who reportedly saw another car in the woman's driveway on the morning of her death, on its witness list.