COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) -- A Columbus man has pleaded guilty to capital murder in the 2010 beating death of a Columbus woman.
District Attorney Forrest Allgood says Joe Earl Smith, Jr., 42, entered the plea Tuesday afternoon in Lowndes County Circuit Court.
Smith was charged in the death of Linda Snell, 38.
Snell's body was found in dead in her apartment after family members notified law enforcement they were concerned about her.
Smith entered the plea as a habitual offender.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
