SCOTT CITY MAN SAYS HE'S GUILTY IN SLAYING

A Scott City, Mo., man pleaded guilty Tuesday in the death of a Texas woman whose body was dismembered and her remains put into portable coolers and left in an Illinois corn field.

Richard Meyer, 42, pleaded guilty in a LaSalle County court at Ottawa, Ill., to one charge of first-degree murder and a second charge of concealing a homicide in the July 11 death of Ernestina M. Hinojosa, 43, of Kennewick, Wash.

Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 31 in LaSalle County.

First assistant state's attorney Brian Towne said Meyer's plea was "blind," meaning he pleaded guilty without negotiating with prosecutors for a sentence. Meyer, who is being held in the LaSalle County Jail, could receive a sentence of 20 to 60 years in prison.

Police believe Meyer met Hinojosa in a motel bar, then a few hours later took her to his room at the Peru, Ill., motel where he lived while working on a pipeline trench project.

Hinojosa was stabbed several times with a knife. Meyer told police he put her remains into the portable coolers and dumped them in the corn field five minutes from the motel.

Meyer's mother, Anna Marie Urhahn of Scott City, said the ordeal has been difficult for her and her family, but she believes her son's guilty plea indicates he wants to own up to his crime and accept punishment.

"He said he committed the crime," Urhahn said. "If he committed the crime, then no matter if he was sane or not sane, whatever he agrees to will never replace that lady. It will never make up for a life."

Urhahn said she never knew Meyer to be violent even though he had problems through the years. She said he had a bipolar disorder for which he was not regularly taking medication.

"This was a total shock to all of us," she said. "We would have expected that if that lady needed help he would have given her his last dollar. He was the type of person to go out of his way to help someone."

Urhahn said Meyer calls her frequently and has been "really depressed." Even though she believes her son's psychological state may have been a factor in the crime, she said he has to pay the price.

"It's a very difficult thing. My heart just goes out to that family out there in Washington," she said. "Richard told me, 'Mother, there's always been two of me -- the good one and the bad one.'"