SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A woman from Illinois accepted a plea agreement on Friday for killing a man with whom she’d had a rocky relationship. Sharon Lancanski, 46, entered an Alford plea for second-degree murder and armed criminal action for killing Jeffrey Chambers.
Chambers was stabbed numerous times in his home in Springfield on June 18, 2010. Investigators say Lancanski and Chambers had an on-again, off-again relationship with a history of abuse.
A judge gave Lancanski, also known as Lancanski-Shimkus, concurrent 15-year and five-year prison sentences as part of the plea agreement. Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson says she will have to serve 85 percent of the longer sentence before being eligible for parole.
In an Alford plea, a person doesn't admit guilty but concedes that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction if the case went to trial.
