A Pennsylvania man accused of taking an Uber to murder his estranged wife pleaded guilty this week and was sentenced to life in prison.

Kenneth Shea, 37, was slapped with a protective order to stay away from Elizabeth Shea less than a month before he pushed in an air conditioning unit at her home and stabbed her to death.

Employees at the pet daycare where Elizabeth Shea, 57, worked called for a welfare check on the morning of April 10, and deputies found her dead in her room with stab wounds to the neck, as CrimeOnline reported. They also found hard drives from the home’s surveillance system and three cell phones in sinks and toilets in the house.

Investigators learned that Kenneth Shea had taken the ride share from the Comfort Inn where he was staying to just behind Elizabeth Shea’s home shortly after midnight, then taking a ride back to the hotel at about 3:30 a.m.

Shea pleaded guilty on June 10, reading a tearful statement in the court apologizing to his murdered wife and her sons, WCAU reported, telling the court he was pleading guilty to avoid a trial that would put the family through more pain.

Immediately after his plea, he was sentenced to life in prison.

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[Featured image: Kenneth Shea/Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office]