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Urbana man pleads guilty to choking wife, hiding body

Posted September 27, 2016 7:00 am

The Associated Press

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - A central Illinois man has pleaded guilty to the death of his wife, whose body was found in a plastic tote.

Shaun Michael Thomas of Urbana pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Monday in the death of 37-year-old Jessica Thomas. The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2dxrCfd ) prosecutors will recommend the 38-year-old Thomas' sentence be no more than 45 years as part of a plea agreement. Two other murder counts and one count of concealment of a homicidal death are to be dropped at sentencing on Nov. 30.

Champaign County sheriff's deputies found Jessica Thomas' body June 1 while doing a welfare check when she didn't show up for work.

Prosecutors said Shaun Thomas choked his wife after the couple argued about using a vehicle. He then taped her body in a plastic tote before seeing squad cars and turning himself in.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com

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