NY man admits he strangled his wife, then tried to make her disappearance look like carjacking

NY man admits strangling wife, covering his tracks

MINEOLA, N.Y. — A New York man has admitted strangling his wife and then staging an elaborate ruse to make it appear she’d been carjacked.

William Walsh pleaded guilty Thursday in Nassau County Court to murder, tampering with evidence and weapon possession. He admitted killing Leah Walsh in October 2008 following an argument in their Bethpage home on Long Island.

After the killing, Walsh reported his wife missing, prompting a publicized two-day search for her.

He told police that his wife, a special education teacher, may have been carjacked after her vehicle was found on the side of a highway.

The search ended when authorities found her body dumped several miles away in the woods.

Walsh faces 18 years to life in prison when he is sentenced June 23.