A former Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter has admitted to fatally stabbing a man in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Andrew Osborne,35, pleaded guilty to stabbing and killing 47-year-old Brian Wilkerson inside an Ocean Casino hotel room on 23 September 2022. After entering his plea on Thursday, the New Jersey State Police guidelines recommend a 25-year sentence, the Atlantic County, New Jersey Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
He will be sentenced in August.
Osborne stabbed Wilkerson in the head and neck before leaving his hotel room wearing his victim’s shoes and pants, local outlet NJ.com reports. The whole ordeal lasted less than half an hour.
Wilkerson’s door was opened just before 7am the morning of his murder, with the deadbolt engaged to keep it from closing, according to NJ.com. Ten minutes later, security footage captured the former MMA fighter exiting an elevator on Wilkerson’s floor at 7:09am.
The door closed two minutes later and opened again at 7:30am, according to the hotel’s lock report, per NJ.com. Security footage captured him returning to his room with a black bag — Osborne and his wife then went to the parking garage just minutes later and left the hotel.
Osborne checked in just hours before the murder, while Wilkerson checked in the night before. His body was discovered at 1:30pm the day of his murder, NJ.com reports.
Police say Osborne and his wife went back to their home of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before police arrested the ex-MMA fighter three days later.
Osborne fought in the MMA from 2012 to 2013, according to ESPN.
Wilkerson was from Galloway, New Jersey, according to his obituary. The 47-year-old worked for a construction company until becoming a bookkeeper in 2008. He also attended a local Lutheran church.
“Brian’s death was very tragic and sudden and will be sadly missed by everyone that knew him,” his obituary reads.
