BRENTWOOD, N.H. — A New Hampshire man and his sister admitted in court Thursday that they conspired to kill his ex-wife, whose body was set on fire in a vacant concrete plant after her throat was slit.

Aaron Desjardins, 37, of Epping, pleaded guilty in Rockingham County Superior Court to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to hinder apprehension in the March 2013 killing of Amanda “Amy” Warf. He faces life in prison and will be sentenced in February.

Later Thursday, Michele Corson, of Skowhegan, Maine, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to hinder prosecution. She’s expected to receive nine to 30 years in prison when she also is sentenced in February.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell said Corson told investigators that Desjardins had been saying for months he was going to “gut Amy like a fish.”

According to Corson, Desjardins gave her this account after Warf was dead:

He ambushed his ex-wife in her employer’s parking lot, using a gun that Corson had brought from her father’s house in Maine to scare her. He forced Warf into her car then sat behind her, wrapped a wire around her neck and told her to drive to the concrete plant in Exeter.

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Once inside the plant, Warf fought to get control of his knife, but he kept it, slit her throat, poured gasoline on her and set her ablaze.

“She did feel terror and pain,” said Morrell, who told the judge his plot to kill her dated back to 2011, when Warf left him.

Before he killed her, Desjardins asked Warf why she had left him and if he was still the beneficiary on a life insurance policy. In police documents, Desjardins also said his ex-wife was trying to take away their son and he plotted with his current wife, Sarah Desjardins, to kill Warf.

Soon after he killed her, Desjardins got a text from Corson asking if he had “taken out the trash.” It was code asking if Warf was dead. Desjardins answered yes and said it was easier than he expected.

Several members of Warf’s family attended Thursday’s pleas but said through a victim’s advocate that they would not speak until after Desjardins and Corson are sentenced.

Sarah Desjardins faces accomplice to first-degree murder charges. Morrell said Aaron Desjardins and his sister are expected to testify against her.


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