PRICE — A Colorado man admitted Tuesday that he murdered a woman in her Price home back in 1970.
Thomas Edward Egley, 76, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, the equivalent of first-degree felony murder, as part of a plea deal. In exchange for his plea, a charge of rape, a first-degree felony, was dismissed.
Egley will be sentenced Nov. 22 and faces up to 10 years to life in prison, according to court documents.
He was charged in August with raping and killing Loretta Jones 46 years ago.
Jones, 23, was found by her 4-year-old daughter on July 30, 1970, in the living room of their home in Price, 468 E. 400 South. Egley was arrested and charged with the woman's death, but a judge tossed the case after a preliminary hearing later that year, saying there wasn't enough evidence to send him to trial.
Egley moved to Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 1971 and remained there until his arrest this summer.
According to charging documents, Egley confessed the killing to a neighbor, who then convinced him to "come clean" to police. After telling police that he had slit Jones' throat, Egley confessed further to his neighbor, saying he had raped and killed the woman after she rejected his advances, charges state.