Man pleads guilty to killing Catholic priest who was stabbed in his rectory in Nebraska
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The man accused of fatally stabbing a Catholic priest during a break-in at his home beside the church he served in a small Nebraska town pleaded guilty to murder and other charges Tuesday in the December 2023 killing.
Kierre Williams changed his plea to guilty on murder, burglary and weapons charges during a routine pretrial hearing. He will be sentenced on Nov. 12 to life in prison for killing the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell, 65, in the rectory next door to St. John the Baptist Church in Fort Calhoun. The killing occurred just hours before Gutgsell was scheduled to celebrate Mass.