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HEBER CITY, Utah (AP) -- One of two men charged in the fatal ambush of a Roman Catholic deacon pleaded guilty to murder, although the motive for the death of the popular Hispanic clergyman still is unknown.
"The public won't know what his attorneys don't know," said Brook Sessions, a lawyer for Cunny Pelaez.
After a Mass in Park City in 2005, Aniceto Armendariz, 42, was shot in the head while riding in a pickup truck with his wife, Alma, on U.S. 40 in Wasatch County.
Pelaez, 20, was in a van with his father Antonio Pelaez-Vasquez, 56. The van crashed, and the suspects were quickly caught.
Pelaez pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder with a weapons enhancement Wednesday, avoiding a mandatory life sentence if he had been convicted at trial. He faces a sentence of six years to life in prison on March 7.
Pelaez did not admit shooting Armendariz but acknowledged riding in the van and taking part in the crime. His statements to police indicated that he knew the victim. His father faces trial April 24.
Armendariz, his wife and four children moved to Utah from Chihuahua, Mexico in 1995, living in a trailer in a campground for six months.
He started a bilingual driving school and taught Hispanic immigrants about personal finance and how to get health care and legal advice. Armendariz regularly appeared at public forums to speak on behalf of immigrants in Wasatch and Summit counties.
The family gained permanent-resident status in September 2005, just three weeks before Armendariz' murder.
------ Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
