Cocot pleads guilty to murdering his wife

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to killing his wife in their South Bend home last summer.

Brian Cocot, cuffed at the ankles and wrists and wearing a bright-orange jail jumpsuit, admitted to beating his wife with a hammer and strangling her to death on June 13.

Cocot's plea agreement calls for a sentence of no more than 55 years in prison, 10 years less than the maximum allowed by law.

St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jerome Frese accepted the plea and convicted Cocot at Tuesday's hearing.

Sentencing is set for 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 28.