A Hudson Valley man admitted he killed a house guest. The dead man's body was found months later hidden in a planter.

On Monday in Orange County Court, 44-year-old Christopher Smith of Newburgh pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the April 2017 fatal stabbing of his houseguest, 50-year-old William K. McMahon of the Town of Newburgh.

Smith confessed to killing McMahon with a knife at the apartment he rented in the Town of Newburgh. Smith hid McMahon's dead body by burying it in a planter outside his home, officials say.

McMahon was last seen in April of 2017. He was reported missing to State Police in June.

In October 2017, authorities executed a search warrant at a home on Quaker Street in Town of Newburgh where the remains of McMahon were found.

After the remains were found, on Oct. 27, Smith was arrested. 

“The unlawful taking of another human life is among the worst crimes that one can commit,” Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said, “and the likelihood of killing increases dramatically when a person chooses to use a weapon."

At the time that Smith pled guilty, prosecutors stated that they would be recommending that he be sentenced to 20 in state prison when he is sentenced on August 13.

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