LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — A man who led authorities to the remains of a young Amish woman in Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing her.
Justo Smoker pleaded guilty in Lancaster County to third-degree murder, kidnapping, and other offenses in the death of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos.
She was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area on June 21, 2020.
Smoker was sentenced to 35 1/2 to 71 years in prison.
According to the Associated Press, Smoker faces an additional sentence for violating parole from a previous series of burglaries and robberies.
Smoker faces an additional 17 years for the additional burglary charges, the AP reported.
The DA calls it an effective life sentence.
President Judge David Ashworth calls Smoker a "predator of the worst kind."
The AP reported that Smoker is believed to have killed Stoltzfoos within a few hours of kidnapping her.
Officials said he buried her in one location where her stockings and bra were later found, then moved her body and buried her behind a business he once worked at, the AP reported.
The coroner said Stoltzfoos was strangled and stabbed, according to the AP.
Smoker led authorities to the young woman's remains in April as a condition of his plea agreement.
