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ALBION -ÊThe Ligonier woman accused of beating her boyfriend to death with a hammer pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Noble County Superior Court Monday.
Christine Anne Ratliff, 30, submitted a plea agreement Monday that would have her plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and dismiss a murder charge.
Ratliff reportedly beat Robert H. Moser, 29, Cromwell, and formerly of Syracuse, to death with a claw hammer May 21 in a mobile home they were renovating in Cromwell. Ratliff and Moser were dating at the time of the incident.
If the plea agreement is accepted, Ratliff will be sentenced to 20 years in prison, with a minimum of eight years served. Murder charges carry a 45- to 65-year prison sentence.
In May, Ratliff reportedly walked into the lobby of the Noble County Jail, telling a jail officer she killed Moser.
When Noble County police officers then went to Lot 154 at Shady Acres Mobile Home Court, Cromwell, they found Moser's body face down on a bed in a rear bedroom. Moser had an obvious head injury and the room was spattered with blood.
The hammer allegedly used in the attack was later found by police where Ratliff said it was hidden.
Moser, a Wawasee High School graduate, was a self-employed carpenter/construction worker.
