An Aleppo man who strangled a 28-year-old mother of two in 2006 was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Wheeling.

Eugene J. Talik Jr., 39, pleaded guilty in January to a federal charge of traveling from Pennsylvania to West Virginia with the intent to kill his girlfriend, Kelly Jo Elliott. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the death penalty as a possible sentence.

According to the Associated Press, Talik agreed to forgive John Deutsch's $2,000 cocaine debt if he would kill Elliott.

Deutsch, 31, of Freedom, hit the woman with a lead pipe but was unable to finish the job so Talik strangled her.

Elliott's body was burned and buried in a shallow grave in Clearfield County. Her remains were found in November 2006, six months after she was reported missing.

Deutsch is serving a 15-year prison term for being an accessory to murder after the fact.