Man already in prison pleads guilty in 1997 killing of KCK woman

A man already in prison for one murder pleaded guilty Friday to the 1997 killing of a woman in Kansas City, Kan.

Earlier this year, Wyandotte County prosecutors charged Torry M. Johnson and Jason L. Rucker with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 33-year-old Vicky Ernst.

Johnson, 34, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Friday and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 16.

He is already serving a life sentence in Missouri for the 2005 killing of a man in Kansas City.

The case against Rucker, 35, is pending. He is being held in the Wyandotte County jail.

Ernst was killed Oct. 22, 1997, inside her home in the 900 block of Shawnee Drive.

The initial investigation failed to turn up any suspects, but over the years detectives continued to follow leads. In April, after more leads came in and the case was reviewed by police and prosecutors, the charges were filed.

Because Rucker and Johnson were juveniles at the time of the killing, they were initially charged in juvenile court. But they were later ordered to stand trial as adults.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 1:09 PM.