Man pleads guilty to killing co-worker at mountain inn

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A former employee at a well-known North Carolina mountain inn has pleaded guilty to killing a co-worker who was an aspiring chef.
Derek Shawn Pendergraft, 22, entered the plea Monday in federal court to first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse resulting in death.
Pendergraft admitted to killing Sara Ellis, his co-worker at the Pisgah Inn along the Blue Ridge Parkway, in July 2018. An autopsy found that Ellis died of strangulation.
Prosecutors say in a news rel