A Washington state man pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering his girlfriend at The Fairmont Orchid last year.
A Washington state man pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering his girlfriend at The Fairmont Orchid last year.
Philip Howard Zimmerman, 46, entered guilty pleas to charges of second-degree murder, kidnapping and second-degree criminal property damage before 3rd Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kauanoe Jackson said in a prepared statement Wednesday afternoon. The charges stemmed from the May 2011 assault on Zimmerman’s girlfriend, Susan Brockert, 44.
Zimmerman will be sentenced in September.
According to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Zimmerman attacked Brockert in her hotel room. Hotel employees heard Brockert’s cries for help and interrupted the attack. Brockert died at North Hawaii Community Hospital as a result of her injuries.
Brockert’s family provided input to the prosecutors, leading the state to agree not to pursue an “enhanced sentencing structure” which would have carried the possibility of life imprisonment without parole, Jackson said. The state may still ask for consecutive imprisonment terms for the three charges. Second-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The maximum sentence for kidnapping is 20 years, and the maximum sentence for criminal property damage is five years.