MONROE, Ohio -- The man accused of killing an 87-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to several lesser charges.
Daniel French admitting to robbing Barbara Howe at her Monroe retirement home on Wednesday.
The plea has implications for his murder trial that is still to come.
French pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse during a hearing Wednesday.
The pleas were not part of any deal with the prosecution and he stated that he understood what he was doing.
A point that the prosecution made is that aggravated robbery and burglary charges comprise the death penalty specification in an aggravated murder charge.
So if French is found guilty of murder, he has essentially helped prosecutors make the case for putting him to death.
The aggravated murder charge is set for trial on Monday.
