Topeka ? A Kansas woman charged along with two men in the shotgun slaying of her husband has admitted her guilt just as her trial was to begin.

Michelle Lynn Eberhardt pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder in the Oct. 25, 2009, slaying of her husband, 51-year-old Gerald S. Eberhardt. He died while he sat in bed at his Tecumseh home.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that charges of conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder will be dropped when Eberhardt is sentenced Feb. 17.

Eberhardt’s son, 19-year-old Scott M. Mosher, also is charged in the death of his stepfather.

A third defendant, 20-year-old Derrick Dwayne Haase, of Topeka, pleaded no contest on April 26 to a reduced charge of reckless second-degree murder. A sentencing date has not been set.