A convicted child killer admitted Friday that he murdered a 12-year-old girl who disappeared in 1993 while riding her bicycle home from her father's church.
In a surprise move, Lewis Lent Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Sara Anne Wood. He will receive 25 years to life in prison.Lent, a 45-year-old former handyman and movie theater janitor from North Adams, Mass., had strung New York authorities and Sara's parents along since his arrest in January 1994.
The girl's parents, who founded a rescue center for missing children and lobbied for child protection laws since their daughter's disappearance, were "in a state of shock" after learning of Lent's guilty plea.
Lent's change of heart Friday was a mystery. He had previously arranged to plead guilty in the case on Oct. 16, but changed his mind when he arrived in court.