Former Plum man pleads guilty in death of wife

A former Plum man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in West Virginia to a charge of traveling across state lines to kill his estranged wife.

Nathaniel J. King, 26, of Charleston, S.C., pleaded guilty to traveling from Pennsylvania to West Virginia on Aug. 16, 2001, with the intent to harass, intimidate and kill Mandy L. King. She was 20 when she died.

Prosecutors believe Nathaniel King strangled his estranged wife and then crashed his vehicle into a tree to make it appear she died in the accident. He faces a maximum sentence of 11 years and 3 months in jail and a fine of $250,000.

"No amount of years will ever be long enough, but we didn't want to go through the pain of a long trial," said Mandy King's mother, Marcy Burns, of Plum.

"It was very satisfying to watch them revoke his bond, put the handcuffs on him and take him away."

Mandy and Nathaniel King met while attending the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts, Downtown, and married in May 2000.

The couple had a daughter, Skyler. They separated in February 2001 and were involved in a dispute over child support when Mandy King died along a rural Preston County road near Coopers Rock.

Prosecutors have told Mandy King's family they believe she was slain in the woods and her body was dragged back to the SUV before the crash.

Skyler, who was 9 months old at the time, was in the vehicle but not injured. Burns and her husband, Ray, have adopted the child, who will turn 5 this month.