Rockford man pleads guilty to Alton woman's murder

ALTON — A 21-year-old northern Illinois man has pleaded guilty in the death of an Alton woman stabbed 20 times before her body was found in her burning mobile home earlier this year.

The Telegraph in Alton reports Donald Phelps of Rockford pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder in Madison County court.

Prosecutors alleged Phelps killed 47-year-old Angela Lish in April after an argument, stabbing her to death before the fire was set in her southern Illinois home. Firefighters later found Lish's body in a bedroom.

An autopsy found Lish died of stab wounds.

The newspaper reports that prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed Phelps' sentence would be at most 50 years.