A Kalispell man will be sentenced next month for killing a man and hiding his body.

Robert Allen Lake, 21, pleaded guilty Monday to deliberate homicide and tampering with physical evidence, both felonies. He had been scheduled to go to trial March 3.

Lake, 22, and 19-year-old Jeffrey Allen Nixon were charged with deliberate homicide, robbery and tampering with physical evidence for allegedly killing Wesley Collins, 49, stealing his money and medical marijuana plants, and then trying to cover up the crime.

In response to questions from Deputy County Attorney Alison Howard in Flathead County District Court, Lake confessed to bludgeoning Collins with a hammer and strangling him with a cord.

“Why’d you kill him?” Howard asked.

“He robbed us of our rent money and I didn’t want to handle it,” Lake said.

Lake also admitted attempting to clean the walls and carpet in Collins’ apartment to hide the crime.

In return for Lake’s guilty pleas, the County Attorney’s Office will drop a felony robbery charge against him. Prosecutors will also drop a robbery charge from 2009, when Lake allegedly robbed an Evergreen casino using a can of pepper spray on an employee and four patrons.

Prosecutors will ask that Lake be sentenced to 110 years in prison for the deliberate homicide charge and 10 years for tampering with evidence. The sentences would run concurrently, Deputy County Attorney Lori Adams said, and prosecutors will not ask for parole restrictions.

Lake’s sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 24.

Kalispell Police discovered Collins’ body April 17 in a remote wooded area southwest of Kalispell.

According to court documents, on April 17 a neighbor reported seeing Lake and another man taking marijuana plants from Collins’ Kalispell apartment. As officers investigated the scene, they saw Lake jump from an apartment window and attempt to flee.

He was taken in for questioning and claimed he had bought the plants. Lake denied being in Collins’ apartment illegally.

But after searching Lake’s apartment for marijuana plants, officers discovered several of Collins’ personal items, including keys and prescription medications.

When confronted, Lake eventually said that Collins had been killed five days before. Lake said that he and Nixon had discussed killing Collins and stealing his marijuana and money.

Under Howard’s questioning Monday, Lake said Nixon’s involvement in Collins’ death was “equal as mine.” Nixon also struck Collins with a hammer and tried to strangle him, Lake said.

When asked whether Nixon had a reason to dislike Collins, Lake replied, “Not that I know of.” He said he couldn’t recall whose idea it had been to kill Collins.

Howard also questioned Lake about Cody Naldrett’s involvement in the crime.

Naldrett, 27, allegedly helped Lake and Nixon remove Collins’ body from the apartment and drag it into the woods. He faces felony charges of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

Lake said he couldn’t remember what Naldrett’s involvement had been.

“It was a pretty long night,” Lake said, adding that “a lot of drug use” took place that evening.

Lake did say that he never threatened to harm Naldrett if he didn’t help hide Collins’ body.

Trials for Naldrett and Nixon are scheduled to start next month.

Two other people involved in the crime already have been sentenced.

Joshua Fritz, 21, pleaded no contest in October to felony tampering with evidence.

He had been accused of going to Collins’ apartment days after the murder to steal marijuana plants, weight equipment and other items. After examining text messages between Fritz and Karrolyn Robinson, Lake’s girlfriend, investigators learned that Fritz had disposed of Collins’ phone while fleeing his apartment.

In exchange for Fritz’s plea agreement, charges of burglary, theft and obstructing a peace officer were dropped. He received a five-year suspended sentence with probation but no prison time.

Robinson was sentenced in December to eight years in Montana Women’s Prison after pleading guilty in October to tampering with evidence and theft.

According to court documents, Robinson brought Lake’s phone to police, but only after sending Lake’s brother a text message asking him to delete all messages from the phone. The documents say she also deleted messages from her own phone.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.