Suspect admits slaying in Wyandot County case
12/6/2008UPPER SANDUSKY, Ohio A Hardin County man pleaded guilty yesterday to killing an elderly woman in her rural Wharton, Ohio, home.
Terry Dale Shepherd, 40, entered a plea in Wyandot County Common Pleas Court to aggravated murder for the Sept. 28 death of Claradell Keller, 78, whose body was found burned after a fire at her home.
Aggravated arson, arson, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, burglary, grand theft, felonious assault, tampering with evidence, and/or abuse of a corpse charges are to be dismissed at sentencing.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend Shepherd be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole a sentence that is to be imposed consecutive to any sentence he receives in Hardin County, where he is charged with the murders of two women.
He is accused in the deaths of Judy Kearly, 56, and Deborah England, 52, who were last seen Oct. 12 in Kenton, Ohio. Their remains were found the next day near a burned house near Roundhead, Ohio.