Man Pleads to Killing of Osakis Woman
ALEXANDRIA (AP) — A 53-year-old ex-convict from Alexandria has pleaded guilty to killing a woman who stumbled upon him as he burglarized her home in central Minnesota.
Jeffery A. Brooks pleaded guilty in Todd County District Court on Friday to second-degree murder in the May 20 death of 51-year-old Diane Fortenberry.
Brooks faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for January.
Authorities say Fortenberry was killed when she returned to her family's home southwest of Osakis and interrupted Brooks after he had broken in.
She is survived by a husband and two teenage sons.
State records show that Brooks' criminal record goes back nearly 20 years and includes theft or burglary convictions in St. Paul, Fergus Falls and Cold Spring.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
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