The man accused of fatally stabbing a Catholic priest in his rectory in a small Nebraska town pleaded guilty to murder and other charges on Tuesday.
Kierre Williams changed his plea to guilty on murder, burglary, and weapons charges during a pretrial hearing for the December 2023 killing of Rev. Stephen Gutgsell, 65.
According to the Associated Press, Gutgsell was killed just hours before Mass in his home next door to St. John the Baptist Church in Fort Calhoun. Investigators were unable to find any connection between Williams and the priest.
While prosecutors reportedly did not seek the death penalty, he’s facing a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.
On the day of the attack, Gutgsell called 911 just before dawn to report that a man had broken into the rectory and was standing in the kitchen while holding a knife. Deputies found Gutgsell lying near the kitchen with stab wounds when they arrived on the scene. Gutgsell was rushed to a hospital in Omaha, where he later died from his stab wounds.
Authorities had temporarily closed St. John the Baptist Church the day he was killed, but it reopened shortly after.
In an announcement on the Archdiocese of Omaha’s website, leaders said Getgsell served 39 years of priestly service across the archdiocese and taught at West Point Central Catholic School.
He later served as pastor at St. Aloysius in Aloys, then at St. Francis in Humphrey, and St. Patrick in Omaha. Gutgsell previously ministered as a chaplain to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Omaha.
At the time of his death, he served as pastoral administrator of St. John the Baptist in Fort Calhoun and assisted at St. Francis Borgia in Blair and St. Patrick in Tekamah.
“We continue to pray that the Lord of mercy and love will welcome Father Gutgsell into his Heavenly kingdom,” Archbishop of Omaha George J. Lucas said in a statement. “May Our Blessed Mother intercede for us all as we grieve his death.”
Williams will be sentenced on Nov. 12.