BOISE -- An Idaho City man long suspected to be behind the murders of two men whose dismembered bodies were discovered in Boise County pleaded guilty Tuesday.
Michael Stephen Dauber, 47, admitted to two counts of second-degree murder as part of plea deal with prosecutors.
Under the agreement, Dauber will be sentenced to life in prison for the slayings of 25-year-old Joshua Reddington and 45-year-old Steve Kalogerakos, becoming eligible for parole after 17 years behind bars.
If Dauber tells authorities where the rest of Reddington's body parts were dumped before the sentencing, he will be allowed to argue for a parole eligibility after 13 to 15 years instead.
Technically, Dauber entered Alford guilty pleas, which means he does not admit to killing the men but acknowledges there is enough evidence to convict him. Dauber was originally charged with first-degree murder, and prosecutors indicated they would seek the death penalty.
Prosecutors say Dauber shot and killed Reddington in May 2000. According to the murdered man's family, Reddington and Dauber worked together at a Montana helicopter logging company. The pair were traveling to Boise together when Reddington disappeared.
Vera Pohto, Reddington's mother, said she called Dauber after her son did not return to work to ask him what had happened. Dauber told her he and the other man had a falling out and parted ways.
Although the defendant was considered a "person of interest" in the case, he was not charged until Reddington's remains were found more than a decade later in 2014. At least part of the dismembered body was discovered at a cabin in the Boise National Forest outside of Idaho City.
A close friend of Dauber who testified at a preliminary hearing described the defendant waking him up to ask for help moving Reddington's body after the two men came to stay with him in the cabin. The man said Reddington was lying on a blanket and had a bullethole in his forehead.
The witness said after he refused to help Dauber, he saw the defendant drag the body into a crawl space beneath the cabin, followed by the sound of sawing and breaking bones.
He also testified Dauber said he needed to kill Reddington in order to "banish the evil" and compared himself to the archangel Michael.
It's unclear why the witness did not report the slaying to authorites for 14 years.
Dauber's roommate Steve Kalogerakos was killed in 2007, seven years after Reddington's death.
According to prosecutors, Dauber shot Kalogerakos with a pistol before cutting his body into pieces with an ax and a bone saw and dumping it in a shallow grave in the mountains of Boise County.
The pair had been friends since childhood, according to Kalogerakos sister.
The body was discovered in 2013. Dauber was arrested in connection with Kalogerakos' death in March 2014, months before the remains of his earlier victim was discovered. Charges were filed in the Reddington case that December.
Dauber grew up in Chicago, the son of feared Mafia hitman Billy Dauber. His father and step-mother were gunned down in 1980 in a mob-ordered execution. According to those who knew Dauber as a young man - including Kalogerakos' sister- the defendant aspired to be like his father.
As part of the plea deal, Dauber waived his right to appeal or ask for a reduction in sentence. Neither the prosecution nor the defense will be allowed to make an argument at sentencing, unless Dauber points searchers to the rest of Reddington's remains.
Sentencing is set for Oct. 28.
