BONSALL : Guilty Plea in Grove Slaying
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An 18-year-old man pleaded guilty to an apparently drug-related murder in a Bonsall orange grove in which the victim was shot in the face before his ear was cut off.
William Morgan Phillips of Fallbrook pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the death of David Timothy Nikkel, 20, on Jan. 18. The plea was part of a plea agreement intended to keep Phillips from facing a charge of first-degree murder.
Phillips faces 18 to 22 years in state prison when he is sentenced next month, defense attorney Richard Mills said. Had the case gone to trial on the harsher charge and had he been convicted, Phillips would have faced a possible sentence of 30 years to life.
The motive for the shooting was still unclear, but Mills said Nikkel may have defaulted on drug debts, perhaps relating to drugs delivered by Phillips.
When Phillips was arrested in February, prosecutors said he might have been acting as an enforcer, executing Nikkel over the debt.
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