Woman gives plea of guilty

Friday, July 18, 1997 | 9:10 a.m.

Tamara Anderson pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the killing of a 60-year-old Las Vegas woman whose body decayed while hidden under debris in the yard at Anderson's home last year.

Anderson, 55, also known as Tamara Eileen Karter, previously said she was not guilty of killing CeCe Parker in January 1996 and hiding her body.

In changing her plea Thursday in the courtroom of District Judge Donald Mosley, Anderson acknowledged she was doing so to avoid a life prison term should a jury convict her of first-degree murder in the killing. She faces a 10-year term when she is sentenced Aug. 20.

She entered her plea pursuant to the Alford decision, meaning she did not have to admit her guilt in the killing.

The skeletal remains of Parker were found in September 1996 lying beneath debris at Anderson's home at 5840 W. Edna Ave. Parker had been missing since January 1996 and was last seen in the company of Anderson.

Deputy District Attorney Clark Peterson said the state had a witness who would testify at trial that he helped Anderson clean up the yard of the home after she was evicted. While doing this, he discovered the body.

When confronted with the discovery, Anderson commented: "It was an accidental shooting," Peterson said the witness would have testified.

The women were partners in a real estate business. Anderson told police investigating the disappearance that Parker had left the Edna Avenue home with $4,000 in cash to gamble at a local casino. Detectives never searched the property.