Man pleads guilty to murder in Cole County double killing

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Cole County Prosecuting Attorney said Tuesday a man charged with murdering a man and woman in 2016 pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Brandon Rapier, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action in the deaths of his ex-girlfriend Ciera Kolb and her boyfriend Micah Hall, Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson said.

Online court records said Rapier had a court hearing for 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

Thompson said in a news release Rapier agreed to a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty.

The release said Rapier agreed to serve "life (in prison) without parole on each count of murder, and fifteen years on each count of armed criminal action."

Thompson said a formal sentencing will be held at a later date.

Rapier is accused of stabbing Kolb and Hall to death in November of 2016. Court documents say Rapier posted on Facebook hours before the killings saying “I will have it no other way. I am judge, jury, and my favorite, executioner.”