A Tooele man charged with drowning his girlfriend last year has pleaded guilty to second-degree felony manslaughter as part of a plea agreement. He originally was charged with first-degree felony murder.
Walter Smith, 25, admitted Tuesday that he killed Nicole Speirs, 23, the mother of twins, in their Tooele home on March 25, 2006.
Speirs was found face down in the bathtub with the water running and Smith told police that he had just come back from Idaho and found her that way. No charges were filed initially because there were no signs of a struggle or deliberate drowning, although police and prosecutors kept the case open.
Police said Smith, who served as a Marine in Iraq, checked into the Veterans Hospital in December 2006 and told a relative to relay a message to law enforcement officials that he was responsible for Speirs' death.
Smith is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9 before 3rd District Judge Mark Kouris.