The Associated Press

MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. - A state prisoner in western Kentucky has pleaded guilty to the murders of two men killed more than a decade ago. Jeffrey Tomblin, 36, formerly of Mount Washington, admitted Friday in Bullitt Circuit Court that he killed 26-year-old Martin Newton of Manton in February 1989 and Timothy Troy Gordon, 24, April 3, 1990.

Tomblin said in court that he buried Gordon's body on the banks of the Salt River.

"We more or less got into it, one thing led to another, and I shot him," Tomblin told Bullitt Circuit Judge Thomas Waller. Tomblin agreed to a 40-year sentence as part of his plea and will be sentenced April 17.

Authorities said Tomblin is working with police to find Gordon's remains.

Newton, who was shot in the back of the head, was found in a Nelson County cemetery shortly after he was killed.

Tomblin was indicted Wednesday in Bullitt County for Gordon's murder. State police detective Jonathan Tapp had been working on the Nelson County murder for several months and recently tied both crimes to Tomblin, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville for the 1990 attempted murder of Richard Crawford.

State police said the cases - believed to be drug-related - were solved through DNA evidence.