Cache Valley man pleads guilty to 2018 murder

A Hyrum man charged with the murder of a California woman accepted a plea deal from prosecutors Wednesday in 1st District Court in exchange for a reduced charge and dismissal of other related charges.

Stacy Robert Willis, 41, was arrested in September and charged with aggravated murder, a capital felony, along with obstructing justice, illegal possession of a firearm and drug charges. The terms of the plea deal included dropping the lesser charges and reducing the charge to murder, a first degree felony that carries a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

Willis admitted in court Wednesday that he killed Merrilee Cox-Lafferty, a long time acquaintance who he dated years ago, in August when she was visiting from California. She stayed at his house the night of Aug. 17, then the next day the two got into an argument about drugs, according to police.

Police say Willis told a friend he beat Cox-Lafferty to death after she backed his SUV into a tree in Blacksmith Fork Canyon.

“It was an accident,” Willis said Wednesday in court, the Herald Journal reported.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 11.

@SpencerABurt

spencerburt@aggiemail.usu.edu