A man accused of killing his wife and dumping her body in a landfill pleaded guilty on Monday. In September, a judge ordered Frank Schilt to stand trial for the murder of his wife, Terri, although her body was never found. Schilt originally entered a not guilty plea on December 6. Schilt entered the guilty plea to a second-degree murder charge in exchange for lowering the charge from first-degree murder and dismissing the other charges.
Schilt will be sentenced on August 6th, and is expected to serve between 32 and 48 years.
Amy Schilt, Frank Schilt's oldest daughter, stated that the new plea was agreed on by all involved, and was intended to spare the family the drama of a trial.
"We support the fact that he is pleading guilty to second-degree murder" Amy told reporters, "because it would be better for everyone, so that we could kind of move on with our lives, and get over a lot of these things without it coming back in our faces."
Terri Schilt was reported missing in March 2006, and was believed to have been killed in late February of that year.