Upstate NY Man Pleads Guilty To Killing Wife With Hatchet During Argument

BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. (AP) — A 58-year-old man has pleaded guilty to killing his wife during an argument inside their upstate New York home last spring.

Michael Norton pleaded guilty Thursday in a Saratoga County court in Ballston Spa to a second-degree murder charge in the slaying of Sherry Norton.

Authorities say the couple was arguing in their home in the town of Hadley last May 3 when Norton hit his wife in the head with a hatchet.

His plea agreement with prosecutors came as his trial was scheduled to start at the end of the month.

Norton will be sentenced in January to 20 years to life in prison.