News outlets report Anthony R. Arriaga told a Mingo County West Virginia judge that he had been using drugs and had little sleep over several days before he killed Bennett Hatfield in a cemetery last May.
Hatfield had been visiting his wife's gravesite. He resigned in 2015 as president and CEO of Patriot Coal.
Arriaga said he and co-defendant Brandon Lee Fitzpatrick of Kentucky, plotted to steal Hatfield's SUV and sell its parts. Arriaga fled back to Delphos a day after the shooting, and that is where the Delphos police arrested him.
Arriaga faces life in prison on a first-degree murder charge. Sentencing is set for May 17.
Fitzpatrick, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy, is due in court for later this week.
