TUCSON, Ariz. — A woman who prompted a nationwide manhunt after escaping custody with her husband in 2019 has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a Tucson murder case.
Prosecutors say 61-year-old Susan Barksdale entered into a plea agreement Wednesday and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 10.
Her 58-year-old husband, Blane Barksdale, still is facing a first-degree murder charge and has a scheduled plea hearing Friday in Pima County Superior Court.
The couple was charged in the disappearance of 72-year-old Frank Bligh, whose Tucson home burned down in an April 2019 explosion and fire.
The Barksdales were arrested in New York in May 2019, but escaped from a transport van during extradition to Tucson three months later.
The couple avoided capture for 16 days before being re-arrested in northern Arizona.
Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast in 2019.