A Fort Dodge man accused of using a hatchet to kill another man has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.
Twenty-nine-year-old Ronald Dilley had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Steven Fisher, whose decomposed remains were found by an Otho farmer in a ditch on July 10.
Dilley and 23-year-old Holly Ekstrom, of Fort Dodge, were charged in Fisher's death. Ekstrom has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and is set to stand trial July 22.
The Fort Dodge Messenger reports that Dilley told a judge Friday he hit Fisher four times in the head with a hatchet after Fisher made a comment that upset Dilley.
Dilley faces up to 50 years in prison when he's sentenced May 5.