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Winona, MN (KROC-AM News) - An elderly Winona area man has pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge.

79-year-old Joseph Wright today entered into a plea agreement and admitted to the murder charge stemming from the stabbing death of his wife last July. In exchange for the guilty plea, Winona County prosecutors have agreed to a maximum sentence of just over 10 1/2 years in prison with credit for the time the rural Dakota man has already spent in jail.

Wright was arrested after Winona County deputies responded to the couples’ apartment after Wright called the Law Enforcement Center and reported he had killed his wife. The deputies found the 72-year-old woman in the residence with stab wounds to her abdomen and other injuries.

The criminal complaint indicates she suffered from dementia and that Wright had attempted suicide by cutting his wrist after leaving a note that stated he could "not watch her suffer."

He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21st.

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