Killer of Phoenix hiker, who told police she was 'what I would want to look like,' pleads guilty

A man who wrote of struggling with his gender identity and sexuality, according to a police report, has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 2023 stabbing death of Phoenix hiker Lauren Heike, under an agreement that removes the death penalty and calls for a natural life sentence. The man said to police of Heike, "That's what I would want to look like."