As Glenn Jackson’s murder trial was set to commence in Kentucky, the 45-year-old made a courtroom admission that will likely conclude the proceedings regarding his wife’s death.

Jackson opted for an Alford plea concerning a downgraded charge of manslaughter in the case of his 47-year-old wife, Ella Jackson. This plea also covers charges of corpse abuse and evidence tampering, as reported by Lexington’s NBC affiliate, WLEX. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain their innocence while conceding that the prosecution’s evidence could lead to a conviction at trial.

Initially arrested in the spring of 2020 for murder, Jackson faced a trial that was postponed multiple times. According to WKYT, a CBS affiliate, the delays were due to pandemic-related court closures, forensic testing backlogs, judicial recusals, and the emergence of new evidence.

Ella Jackson was first reported missing on October 22, 2019. The Richmond Police Department revealed that her husband, who had recently resigned from his position as a professor at Eastern Kentucky University, informed them that he last saw her on October 20, 2019. He claimed she left for a walk in a nearby park with their dog and never returned.

The circumstances surrounding her disappearance raised suspicions since she left behind personal items, including a purse and cellphone, along with her young son and dog. Investigators noted several critical aspects of the case.

“A few days prior to her disappearance, Mrs. Jackson met with a domestic violence advocate,” Richmond police stated in an April 2020 press release. “A search warrant executed on the Jacksons’ home and vehicles uncovered a significant amount of blood in Mr. Jackson’s car trunk, which forensic tests confirmed belonged to Mrs. Jackson.”

“Police located several recordings that Mrs. Jackson secretly made of her and Mr. Jackson’s arguments,” the law enforcement agency added. “Mrs. Jackson also told several individuals that she was afraid of Mr. Jackson, and if anything ever happened to her, her husband would be responsible.”

Glenn Jackson was arrested on April 24, 2020, and about two weeks later, investigators found Ella Jackson’s remains. In a wooded area near property he owned in Pulaski County — two counties south of Madison County — authorities say they found partial skeletal remains and that the Kentucky State Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed “[d]ental records were used to positively identify Mrs. Jackson.”

Ella Jackson’s cause of death remains unknown, according to WLEX, though “she did have a fracture to her skull,” Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Smith said.

Glenn Jackson is set to be sentenced on March 12, with the local outlet reporting that he faces up to 14 years in prison, but that, due to time served on house arrest, he could be released in fewer than eight.

“He will end up having done about 40% of his sentence sitting at his victim’s house, which is incredibly frustrating,” the victim’s ex-husband Jason Hans, who is raising the Jacksons’ young son, told WLEX. “There’s some evidence that he confessed to one of his best friends in December of 2019. He’s denied it ever since then.”