The man accused of kidnapping and killing billionaire heiress Eliza Fletcher has pleaded guilty to the heinous crime in a shocking turn of events.
Cleotha Abston admitted to the crime in a Memphis, Tenn., court Monday, with the judge immediately sentencing him to life in prison without parole, WREG reported.
Fletcher, 34-year-old a teacher and a mother, disappeared while going for her usual early morning jog in September 2022.
Her body turned up days later in woods outside of Memphis. She had suffered blunt force trauma, and been executed shot in the back of the head.
Abston was arrested the day after she vanished, with security footage capturing him thoroughly cleaning an SUV he’d kidnapped her in.
He bowed his head in court Monday and spoke in a muted voice, while lowering his head and giving away little emotion, according to WREG.
“We have no idea what happened to you to turn you into someone so filled with a desire to hurt people,” a statement from Fletcher’s family read in court said.
“Whatever it was, it does not excuse or explain what you have done. You have changed our lives forever, and nothing will ever be the same,” it continued.
“Your actions were evil. There is no other word for it. You murdered Liza, even though she did nothing to deserve it. She did not hurt you. In fact, she would’ve been the first to help if you needed it.”
Fletcher was the heiress of Orgill Inc., a hardware supply company founded by her grandfather, Joseph Orgill III.
Once a local Memphis business founded in 1847, Orgill Inc. expanded nationwide and has become one of the largest privately-held businesses in the country while raking in over $3 billion per year.
She taught kindergarten at a Memphis school, and was remembered for her huge smile and love of running and the outdoors, according to Commercial Appeal.
Fletcher had two young children with her husband.
Abston was easily linked to the crime from DNA found on a pair of shoes he left at the scene.
In the spring he was found guilty of a 2021 crime where he kidnapped at gunpoint a woman he met on a dating app, then forced her into a car before raping her.