Man to be sentenced in slaying in wife's bedroom

November 03, 2009 10:17 pm

— LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — A Bloomington man has pleaded guilty in the fatal shooting of a Purdue University counselor in his estranged wife's bedroom.

John R. Moore III was to have gone to trial Monday on a murder charge in the Oct. 19, 2008 death of Steven R. Morris, a staff psychologist at Purdue's Counseling and Psychological Services. Conviction would carry a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.

But the 49-year-old Moore instead pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, punishable by 20-50 years behind bars. The length of Moore's prison term will be decided by Monroe Circuit Judge Kenneth Todd, who will hold a Dec. 10 sentencing hearing.

Moore's wife Laurie had filed for a protective order against her husband a week before the shooting.