EL CAJON -- A transient pleaded guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter in the bludgeoning death of his girlfriend, who was attacked under a pepper tree in an unincorporated area of El Cajon.
Eugene Niggel, 54, is expected to be sentenced to 23 years in state prison on Aug. 9.
Niggel was already in jail for probation violation when he was re-arrested last February in the Nov. 19, 2014, death of 63-year-old Linda Irwin.
Niggel -- who was on probation for a burglary conviction – assaulted Irwin in the 1100 block of Pepper Drive, and she died of her injuries several days later, according to investigators.
A motive was not disclosed.
