Man pleads guilty to killing wife of 51 years with camping tool, fire poker

GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — A 70-year-old upstate New York man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing his wife of 51 years with a camping tool and fire poker.

Frank Ostrander of Gloversville pleaded guilty in Fulton County Court on Monday. He faces 20 years in state prison when he's sentenced on Oct. 3.

Ostrander told investigators he argued with his wife, Sally, on Feb. 10, and later attacked her with a hatchet or camping shovel as she slept. Detective Sgt. Mike Calbet testified that Ostrander told him he hit her several times in the head before the tool broke.

Calbet says Ostrander then struck her with a fire poker before stabbing her with another object. Her body was found by emergency crews summoned by a 911 call.