Abortion clinic employee admits murder

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PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A woman hired to clean surgical tools at a Philadelphia abortion clinic pleaded guilty to murder and agreed to testify against her former boss, officials said.

Lynda Williams, 43, is the fifth person connected with Dr. Kermit Gosnell's clinic to plead guilty, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. She admitted killing a woman who died from a botched abortion and a baby born alive at the clinic.

Williams' pleas to two counts of third-degree murder and other charges could bring her a sentence of 200 years but her actual sentence is expected to be much less. It depends partly on her testimony against Gosnell, the Inquirer said.

Gosnell, 70, is charged with first-degree murder and could receive a death sentence.

Williams, a Wilmington, Del., resident who dropped out of school in the ninth grade, worked for Gosnell at a Delaware clinic and then at the Women's Medical Society clinic in West Philadelphia. A grand jury report in January detailed horrors at the clinic, including live births after late-term abortions with the newborns dispatched with scissors and unsanitary conditions.

While Williams was originally hired to clean instruments, she eventually performed tasks like administering anesthesia.

In addition to Gosnell, his wife, Pearl, and three employees still face trial. Pearl Gosnell is charged with performing an illegal late-term abortion.