A Wilkinsburg man who told police he wasn’t sure why he choked his wife to death in 2016 pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree murder, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office.

Sentencing for Richard Katillius, 64, is set for July 30.

His plea does not include a sentencing agreement, officials said.

Katillius called his sister and brother-in-law in Butler County on March 23, 2016, and told him he needed to come drop off his dog, according to the initial criminal complaint.

“It’s bad; it’s really bad. I killed Linda,” police said he told his sister.

A welfare check at the Katillius home on Old Gate Road found 63-year-old Linda Katillius dead in a second-floor bedroom, police said.

State police met Richard Katillius at his sister’s home when he arrived to drop off the dog, according to police. Investigators said his blue shirt had what appeared to be blood on it, and there were scratch marks on his chest and neck.

He told police he’d choked his wife, but “her death was not intentional,” according to the complaint.

“He stated that he had been drinking red wine last night, and nothing really snapped inside of him – he stated that he just did it, and he does not remember why,” police wrote in the complaint.

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