(Radio Iowa) – Court records show a 58-year-old northern Iowa man has agreed to plead guilty to second degree murder for killing a nurse who worked in Mason City. Sixty-two-year-old Leallen Bergman of Ventura was stabbed to death at a home in Britt last year. Police responding to a disturbance at the address encountered Monte Eckels before they entered the home and found Bergman’s body. Eckels was charged with first degree murder, but earlier this year he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

After receiving treatment, a judge ruled he was mentally fit for a trial, which had been scheduled in December. By pleading guilty to second degree murder, Eckels will be eligible for parole after serving 35 years in prison.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation news release identified Eckels as being from Britt, where the murder happened, but Iowa D-O-T records show Eckels has a Titonka address.