Downers Grove man pleads guilty in pregnant wife's death

WHEATON – A Downers Grove man suspected of killing his pregnant wife in front of their 4-year-old daughter pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree murder and the intentional homicide of his unborn son.

Eric Gilford, 32, of Downers Grove entered the plea on Friday after DuPage County prosecutors agreed not to seek more than 140 years in prison.

Gilford is accused of stabbing 35-year-old Kristine Gilford 17 times.

Authorities said that before she died, Kristine Gilford told police who responded to her apartment on May 26, 2010, that her husband stabbed her. Eric Gilford also was identified by the victim's 4-year-old daughter, who was found covered with her mother's blood.

The former U.S. Navy recruiter was arrested Aug. 5 at a homeless shelter in Jackson, Wyo., where he'd fled.