A man who denied murdering and dismembering a mother-of-three who he met on the internet for over a year suddenly admitted to the horrific crime on Monday.
John Charlton, 38, has been behind bars since last April when he was first arrested for murdering 40-year-old Ingrid Lyne in Seattle, Washington.
Her chopped up remains were found in garbage bags in recycling bins and at a recycling center last year shortly after she went missing following one of their dates.
For more than a year, Charlton told police he did not remember what happened after they returned to the woman’s home because he was so drunk.
On Monday, King County Prosecutors revealed that he had changed his story and confessed to first degree murder and to stealing her car.
John Carlton, 38, has admitted murdering and dismembering 40-year-old Ingrid Lyne at her home in Seattle last April. The pair had been dating and met on the internet not long before her death
He will be sentenced in January next year. Prosecutors did not reveal what prompted his change in plea but they are now asking for him to be sentenced to between 250 to 333 months imprisonment – around 30 years in prison.
Washington is a death penalty state but it only applies to capital charges which Charlton has never faced.
Last year, Lyne was reported missing by her former partner on April 19 after she failed to show up to collect their three daughters from him.
When police searcher her home, they found a 15in pruning saw near the bathtub. Human flesh and evidence of remains were found inside the tub.
Authorities later found her hacked off limbs wrapped in plastic in neighbors’ trash cans.
More remains were found at a recycling and garbage plant.
Upon questioning, Charlton told police that he and the woman had gone to a Seattle Mariners baseball game and then returned to her house.
He said he believed they had sex and that she had been acting ‘weird’ but that he was too drunk to remember what happened afterwards.
Lyne was reported missing by her former husband when she failed to pick up their three daughters after her date with Charlton.
The 40-year-old’s remains were found scattered across Seattle in different recycling bins and plants, the site where some were found wrapped up in plastic bags
Charlton (above in a previous photograph) suddenly admitted to her killing on Monday. He previously told police he was too drunk to remember what happened
Police say Charlton, who has a violent criminal history and whose own parents took out a restraining order against him, killed her then used her own care to distribute her body parts around the city.
The woman’s killer previously said she had been acting ‘weird’ on the night of their date
On Monday, prosecutors said they charged the maximum they could by state law.
‘We have charged the most serious crimes we could under the law, and now that this defendant has pleaded guilty, we will be recommending the maximum prison sentence,’ Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said.
Lynne was a nurse at Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center and she had three daughters aged 12, 10 and seven.
Charlton will be sentenced on January 5.
In 2006, the man’s own parents took out a restraining order against him.
They said he had been drunk and abusive to them and once threatened his mother by telling her to watch the film Hannibal and ‘be aware’.
Police found a pruning saw near the bathtub inside Lyne’s suburban Seattle home