Delphi man pleads guilty to 2 murder counts, auto theft

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - A Delphi man has pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and one count of auto theft in connection with the slayings of two Lafayette men.

Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington says Jacob Guffey faces 55-67 years in prison when he's sentenced Oct. 6.

Thirty-six-year-old Aaron Hunter Jr. and 46-year-old Terry Smith Jr. were fatally shot last August.

Guffey was arrested when police found him intoxicated in a car stolen near the scene. He claimed he helped carry out a robbery of the two men but that a co-defendant, Matthew Oertel of Lafayette, shot the men. Oertel, however, told police that he loaned his gun to Guffey.

Oertel faces a September trial on charges including murder and robbery.