MARION, Ill. -- An Illinois prison inmate charged in a decades-old multistate killing spree appeared in court this morning on charges he killed a Marion woman 30 years ago.

Timothy Krajcir (KRY'-chur) pled guilty to one count of murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. A second count was dropped.

Krajcir was accused of raping and slaying 51-year-old Virginia Lee Witte of Marion in 1978.

The 63-year-old has confessed to killing the woman as well as eight others in four states in the 1970s and 1980s.

Authorities say his confessions were given in exchange for assurances he wouldn't face the death penalty.

Once his Illinois case is resolved, Krajcir will be prosecuted in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri for five killings.

He's currently serving time in the Tamms (Ill.) Correctional Center.