RUTLAND, Vt.—A man accused in the 2008 slaying of a Castleton State College professor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Monday, admitting he bludgeoned her with a frying pan in a fight overheard by neighbors.
David C. Denny, 42, of Poultney, withdrew his previous plea of not guilty under an agreement with prosecutors that calls for a prison term of 22 years to life.
The brother of victim Linda Wiggin, 49, denounced the plea as inadequate, saying Denny deserved more time in prison.
"This was a heinous, brutal crime," said Ken Wiggin, 65, of Jericho. "To me, and to the family, this plea agreement is grossly unjust."
On Nov. 10, 2008, Denny and Linda Wiggin -- who lived together in Poultney -- got into an argument that prosecutors say climaxed with the 6-foot-3-inch 230-pound Denny clubbing her four times with a cast iron frying pan. He then buried her body in the earthen floor of the house's basement, prosecutors said.
"I guess she pushed my button one too many times, yup, that was her," Denny told a friend, according to police.
For eight days before his arrest, Denny went on a spending spree with her bank cards, pawned collectibles and lied to neighbors and Wiggin's employer about where she was. He called Rutland Regional Medical Center, where she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and told them she'd left town and would miss her appointments, prosecutor Marc Brierre said in court Monday.
Neighbors told police later they had overheard the fight between Denny and Wiggin, one saying she heard crashing and screaming and Wiggin yelling either, "Help me" or "Help, police." Once the screaming stopped, all they heard was Denny moving around, they told police.
A day later, Denny asked a neighbor to move her car so he could put Wiggin's in the garage because he wanted to detail it, even though it was never kept there, according to a police affidavit.
In court Monday, Denny admitting killer her, answering a series of yes or no questions from Vermont District Court Judge Thomas Zonay, who put off accepting the plea until a pre-sentence report is completed. No sentencing date was set.
Wiggin, a writer and photographer who graduated from Brandeis University, taught English part-time at Castleton and was studying for a master's degree in psychology when she died.
Formerly of Provincetown, Mass., she met Denny when she was "lonely and vulnerable" within a year or two of the death of her husband, according to Ken Wiggin.
"From conversations I've had with police, Linda's last moments were spent in total terror, facing Denny with a hatchet in his left hand as he made slashing blows, which she blocked with her right hand and right arm. ... In his right hand, he bludgeoned her and delivered the fatal blows with his right hand."
