Man guilty in death of woman found in gas-filled Topeka home

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and other charges in the 2019 killing of a woman whose body was found in a natural gas-filled Topeka home. Jeremy Lardner pleaded guilty Wednesday to the murder charge, as well as aggravated robbery and kidnapping in the death of 36-year-old Brandi Prchal. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay says as part of a plea agreement, Lardner’s defense team agreed to a sentence of nearly 49 years on all the counts when Lardner is sentenced on Jan. 27. Lardner remains in custody on $1 million bond. On Nov. 1, 2019, police and paramedics found Prchal’s bludgeoned body and Lardner unconscious in a Topeka home filled with natural gas.