YAMHILL COUNTY, Ore. — Michael Wolfe has pleaded guilty to murder in the 2019 deaths of Salem resident Karissa Alyn Fretwell and her three-year-old son William "Billy" Fretwell, Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry confirmed Friday.
Karissa, 25, and William were last seen on May 13, 2019 and reported missing several days later.
Wolfe, the boy's father, was arrested in late May 2019 and charged with two counts of aggravated murder and kidnapping. Berry said at the time that there was "sufficient evidence" to confirm that Karissa and William had been killed even though their bodies had not yet been found.
Two months previously, Wolfe had been ordered to pay roughly $900 a month in child support after Karissa took him to court to prove he was the father.
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Court documents said detectives met with William's babysitter, who said Karissa confided in her that Wolfe and his wife had previously threatened Karissa and told her they were going to take William and get custody of him.
Searchers ultimately found the bodies in June 2019, hidden in a heavily wooded area about 10 miles west of Yamhill.
Karissa's cause of death was determined back in 2019 to be homicide by a single gunshot wound to the head. William's cause of death was still undetermined as of Friday and will remain undetermined, Berry said.
Wolfe entered guilty pleas on Friday to one count of aggravated murder and one count of second degree murder, according to Berry. His sentencing is scheduled for July 20.
Prosecutors took the death penalty off the table as a possible sentence, Berry said, which means both counts will carry mandatory life sentences. Wolfe will have the possibility of parole after 30 years.
There were no statements made at the court hearing Friday morning, according to Berry, but there will likely be statements from the Fretwell family at the sentencing hearing.
"I think it's a very good thing for the family to know what's going to happen as to the end result," he said. "In these type of tragic cases, I don't think there's ever closure for the family; this just is a move to close this chapter."
Berry declined to talk about the evidence leading to Wolfe's arrest or the discovery of the bodies, stating that he would need to wait until after sentencing to discuss it.