BREAKING: Fargo man pleads guilty to murder for fatal hit-and-run in Mandan

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - UPDATE: A Fargo man who faces charges including murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving death, and terrorizing for a hit-and-run that left a 77-year-old dead in Mandan earlier this month has pleaded guilty.

39-year-old Wade Bison tearfully sat in a courtroom in Morton County Courthouse Thursday. He’s admitted to the March 21 murder of Erwin Geigle and other crimes that State’s Attorney Gabrielle Goter laid out to the court.

“At approximately 7:20 when [the witness] was parked in the back parking lot of the high school, he saw a white pickup drive between the All Seasons Arena and the Mandan High School buildings and run into the All Seasons Arena. [The witness] heard two crashes,” said Morton State’s Attorney Gabrielle Goter.

Bison didn’t contest the fact that he struck the victim multiple times in front of young witnesses before speeding away.

“The way I hit his chest, I figured there was nothing anyone could do. I just closed my eyes and hoped that I gave him mercy and I left it,” said Wade Bison.

He also didn’t deny writing the text messages the State’s Attorneys say he sent after the crime.

“He texted Chelsea, ‘What’s up, it’s Wade Bison.’ She responded, ‘OMG dude didn’t you run someone over?’ Wade Bison texted back, ‘Yes, I killed him. How you doing?’” read Goter.

State’s attorneys say that they don’t believe Bison and the victim knew each other and no possible motive has been disclosed.

Bison pleaded guilty to three other felonies in Morton County.

“I am guilty of all charges,” said Bison.

Bison faces additional charges in Burleigh County. Prosecutors say his flight from police in Mandan after the hit-and-run culminated in a crash that sent his truck and an SUV he towed down an embankment in Bismarck.

Judge Douglas Bahr ordered a presentence investigation. He has not yet scheduled a sentencing hearing.

Bison could face the possibility of life in prison without parole.

ORIGINAL STORY: A Fargo man has pleaded guilty to murder for a hit-and-run that left a 77-year-old dead in Mandan last month.

New details of the crime emerged at the Morton County Courthouse during 39-year-old Wade Bison’s change of plea hearing Thursday.

State’s attorneys outlined the incident and detailed text messages sent by Bison in the following hours and days where they say he admitted to killing the victim.

Bison then tearfully addressed the court, saying he had backed over the victim after he initially struck him as a form of “mercy.”

Judge Douglas Bahr accepted Bison’s guilty plea and ordered a presentence investigation. He has not yet scheduled a sentencing hearing.

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