The Upper Darby man accused of raping and killing his 84-year-old neighbor two years ago has pleaded guilty Tuesday. He was immediately sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.
Sixty-three-year-old Billy Williams pleaded guilty Tuesday morning in the September 2008 slaying of Jane Morgan inside her apartment in Upper Darby.
Williams' DNA was found under Morgan’s fingernails after she was discovered dead in her apartment when she failed to answer the door for someone who was giving her a ride to visit a friend in a nursing home.
The elderly woman’s death was originally deemed “natural,” until the medical examiner discovered she was killed by “asphyxiation associated with blunt-force injuries,” reports the Inquirer.
"We will never understand why, or how, a person could conduct such horrible acts against another human being - especially one who is elderly and frail like Aunt Jane," Nancy Gavarone, Morgan’s niece, said in court Tuesday.
Williams, who previously served time in a 1980 rape case, lived in the same apartment building as the 84-year-old woman and worked in its grocery store
Gavarone told the court that her aunt trusted Williams as a "good friend," reports the Inquirer.
Williams had been scheduled to go to trial in October.
