David Pate, a Lancaster man with "Satan" tattooed on his face and a split pierced tongue, who has been jailed since 2013 for killing a friend and leaving the body to be found, pleaded guilty to murder Thursday morning in court.

Prosecutors said Pate killed Rickey James in October of 2013 and buried his body in the woods.

Shortly after Pate pleaded guilty the judge sentenced him to life in prison.

Investigators said DNA tests led to the murder charge but they still don't know how James died.

Pate faces 30 years to life in prison.

Featured

Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo