Marion man pleads guilty in beating death

UPDATE: Kim Polley, 42, of Marion, decided before jury selection Monday morning to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Polley faces a 10-year mandatory sentence, as opposed to 50 years if he had been convicted of second-degree murder. A sentencing date will be set later today.

Polley also faces a fine of up to $10,000 and was ordered to pay Meade's estate $150,000.

Linn County Attorney Harold Denton said they had reached a tentative agreement over the weekend, but he couldn't share the information in case Polley changed his mind. Polley formally made the decision this morning.

“The Meade family agreed to let him plead to voluntary manslaughter,” Denton said. “I think at his age he was looking at the possibility of 50 years, which would have been the rest of his life.”

Denton said both women who witnessed the beating, Polley's wife and Denise Adam, a neighbor, were set to testify against Polley. The incident took place at Adam's home.

According to Denton, the women said Polley started arguing with Meade as soon as he arrived at Adam's, and Polley was the one who was doing the hitting. The beating happened quickly and Polley left the house immediately after it happened,  he said.

Meade died from being struck an unknown number of times, which ruptured his two vertebral arteries in his neck, Denton said.

Denton said Polley was upset with Meade over something but they had socialized in the past.