Duane Adrian Johnson, 30, was a stranger to Tricia McCauley, and police say he confronted her as she was headed to meet fellow members of the Districts theater scene at a holiday party. The 46-year-old McCauley never arrived, and friends began to worry and reported her missing.
McCauleys body was later found in the back seat of her white Scion. She had been brutally beaten and strangled, and her legs had been bound with a seat belt, police said. She also had been sexually assaulted.
On Wednesday in D.C. Superior Court, Johnson pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder. He faces a 30-year prison term when he is sentenced by Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo on Nov. 17.