The former handyman charged with the murder of one of his clients accepted a plea deal Monday.
50-year-old Douglas Berry of McKeesport pleaded guilty to third degree murder and related charges for the death of 67-year-old Elizabeth Wiesenfeld. He was sentenced to 17 to 40 years in prison.
Wiesenfeld went missing from her Whitehall home on April 30, 2019. Her daughter told police she received a text from her mother's phone saying "I met someone were leaving now for about a week look after everything at the house please I'm going to have a good time for once."
Sensing something was wrong, Weisenfeld's daughter accompanied police to her mother's home. Officers reported seeing signs of a struggle inside and blood stains.
Police say cell phone tracking, traffic cameras and home security footage eventually led them to Berry, who was charged with Wiesenfeld's death before her body was found almost a year after her disappearance.
On April 19, 2020, an officer was patrolling a common illegal dumping site in Plum, when they found Wiesenfeld's remains in a trash bag.
Investigators discovered Berry had previously worked on Wiesenfeld's home.