AKRON, Ohio -- The wife of slain golf professional James McCartney has pleaded guilty to his murder in mid-trial after being confronted with new evidence that she went to elaborate lengths to hide the crime.
Summit County sheriff's detectives searched the Canton, Ohio home of Carol McCartney Thursday after they were told by an unidentified source that evidence of the crime had been overlooked in previous searches.
Mrs. McCartney's trial on charges of aggravated murder and aggravated burglary was to enter its fourth day Friday, but officials said they reached a plea agreement with her Thursday night after they searched her home.
After pleading guilty in Common Pleas Court Friday, Mrs. McCartney was sentenced to consecutive terms of 15 years to life for murder and eight to 15 years in prison for burglary. She will be eligible to seek parole in 11 years.
McCartney's body was found Aug. 15 in the trunk of his car parked at a hotel near suburban Fairlawn. Investigators believe he was slain Aug. 11. He had been shot six times with a .38-caliber revolver, but only five bullets were found in his body.
Mrs. McCartney, 43, who was estranged from her husband, admitted after his death that she had stolen a .38-caliber weapon months earlier from his apartment near the Bath Golf Club, which he owned. Mrs. McCartney told investigators she threw the gun away after the burglary.
Detectives Thursday found what they said was the sixth bullet, which apparently went through McCartney's body and into the ceiling of Mrs. McCartney's home. The damaged area of the ceiling had been plastered over, they said. They also found bloodstains on stairs in the home.
