SALT LAKE CITY — A man who has been in prison for 24 years for killing a chef admitted Friday that he murdered a teenage girl in 1989 and also confessed to killing yet another woman a month later.

Thomas Evan Noffsinger, now 47, is already serving life in prison for the brutal May 1990 killing of Victor Aguilar, avoiding the death penalty by pleading guilty to the crime. He pleaded guilty Friday to murdering 17-year-old Felicia Pappas in April 1989.

Then, as part of a plea bargain, he gave prosecutors details about how he also murdered Annette Hill, 38, in May of that same year. The Sandy woman's body has never been found.

Noffsinger agreed to be sentenced the same day and he was ordered to serve life in prison without parole for Pappas' death. By accepting a plea deal that included admitting to Hill's death, prosecutors agreed for a second time not to seek the death penalty against him.

The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole had already told Noffsinger in 2010 that he would never be released from prison for Aguilar's murder.

Third District Judge Katie Bernards-Goodman read the names of all three victims as she addressed the serial killer.

"Is that it?" she asked, barely pausing as Noffsinger quietly answered, "Yes."

"How many other bodies are out there that you don't want to talk about because your DNA wasn't on them or their purse wasn't found at your apartment? That's my only concern," the judge said.

Felicia Pappas

DNA evidence tested in 2012 linked Noffsinger to the cold-case murder of 17-year-old Felicia Pappas, killed more than 20 years earlier. He was charged in 2012 with aggravated murder, rape and forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies, in connection with Pappas' death. Charges of rape and forcible sodomy were dropped as part of his plea deal.

Pappas was last seen April 6, 1989, leaving the Cushion 'N Cue pool hall, 2865 S. State in South Salt Lake, about 1 a.m. She was alone and supposedly was going to walk to her home in the area of 4600 South and 100 East. Her body was found outside an office building at 4511 S. 600 East, sexually assaulted and strangled in a desperate fight. A room full of Pappas' family members wept as deputy district attorney Vincent Meister read the details of the case. It was a "random meeting," he said. Noffsinger did not know the girl he killed.

Many in the group wore white T-shirts declaring "Justice for Felicia," with Pappas' picture on the front and a poem on the back. Several left the courtroom partway through the proceedings, overcome with emotion.

Pappas' father, a frail man, spoke forcefully as he addressed a blank-faced Noffsinger.

"I'm glad you're never going to get out of prison, because that's where you belong," Carl Pappas said. "You're not a man, you are an animal."

Carl Pappas expressed his disgust that any man would violate another man's daughter. He thanked Meister and the state of Utah for ensuring Noffsinger will remain "locked up until he dies, because that's where he belongs."

A group of Felicia's friends also addressed the judge and Noffsinger, emphasizing the young girl's beautiful smile, infectious laugh, and the loyalty and love she shared with her family and friends.

"She taught us how to love," Sally Russell recalled of her friend.

Alyssia Adams knew Felicia as a sister and was 8 years old at the time of the murder. Until that time, the most frightening thing she had encountered was "monsters under the bed."

"That day, I learned monsters are real," she read from a carefully handwritten statement.

Adams recalled years of fearful questioning until Noffsinger was charged two years ago. She watched him in court that day, looking for any sign of remorse. She found none, she said.

"We now know the monster who took her from us, and you will never hurt anyone else again," she told Noffsinger.

Annette Hill

As police looked to connect Pappas' death, investigators in Sandy reopened Hill's case. Noffsinger was long considered a "person of interest" in the Sandy mother's disapearance, but investigators said there wasn't enough evidence to file charges in the case.

Hill left her home May 12, 1989, telling her 11-year-old daughter she would be back in a couple of hours, but has not been seen since. Her purse, which had blood on it, was discovered in an apartment that Noffsinger had been evicted from shortly before Aguilar was killed. Police also found a prescription bottle with Hill's name on it in Noffsinger's medicine chest when he was arrested for Aguilar's murder.

Over the years, Noffsinger — also known as Thomas Trujillo — claimed he had only stolen Hill's purse during a car burglary and never met her. Police and prosecutors said they didn't have enough evidence to charge him with her death. But as part of a plea deal, in exchange for not pursuing a death sentence in Felicia Pappas' death, Noffsinger finally told investigators what happened to Hill, Meister said.

Hill had stopped to use a pay phone near 900 E. South Temple in Salt Lake City. Noffsinger, riding his bicycle home from a bar, saw the woman and stopped to talk to her.

"He doesn't know what triggered it, but he hit her," Meister said.

Noffsinger confessed to dragging Hill's unconscious body behind a nearby gas station, returning to retrieve his bike, and then going back to strangle Hill until he could tell she was dead. He then sexually assaulted her and put her body in a nearby Dumpster, covering her with trash.

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Convicted killer linked to cold case death of teen girl

In July 2012, Thomas Evan Noffsinger, 46, was charged with aggravated murder, rape and forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies, in connection with the death of 17-year-old Pappas.

Members of Hill's family were present in the courtroom Friday, but chose not to speak to Noffsinger, Meister explained. Her daughter, 11 at the time of her disappearance and now grown and living in another state, sent a letter to the court.

"(The letter) explained that she missed out on a lot of things when her mom passed away, and her mom missed out on a lot of things with her," Meister said later. "She's not bitter, not angry, but at the same time the person who took her mom's life is where he needs to be and will stay there for the rest of his life."

As he interviewed Noffsinger about Hill's death, Meister said he asked Noffsinger whether he thinks he would have kept killing if he hadn't been caught following the 1990 murder of Aguilar.

Noffsinger answered "yes," the prosecutor said.

Victor Aguilar

On March 3, 1990, Victor Aguilar was stabbed five times in the back with a 12-inch-long knife, savagely stomped on and then had his throat slashed by Noffsinger, a former co-worker who had broken into Marie Callender's with another man to steal money from a safe.

Shortly after the death, Aguilar's widow described her husband as humble, spiritual and a hard worker who dedicated his life to providing for his wife and four children. At the time, Aguilar's family believed his death wasn't the only murder Noffsinger had committed. On Friday, that was proven to be true. Contributing: Mike Anderson

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