HAPPY JACK, Ariz. (AP) - A 63-year-old Happy Jack man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of a woman whose body was found concealed in the forest in the Blue Ridge area.
Patrick Nagel originally pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder when he was arrested April 4 in connection with the death of 37-year-old Tika Young of Blue Ridge.
The Coconino County Sheriff's Office says he was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to the lesser charge on Tuesday.
The sheriff's office says Nagel told authorities he repeatedly struck his former roommate while she was in bed and then dumped her body in Bly Pit in the Blue Ridge area.
Detectives found her body March 30 after a citizen reported part of a leg was sticking out of a pile of forest debris.
