Michael McIntosh changed his plea to guilty for the murder of 39-year-old David Madison in November 2015, according to an amended complaint filed on Dec. 23.

According to court documents, McIntosh, 38, of Austin, will be sentenced on a third-degree murder charge.

His guilty plea was heard Wednesday in Mower County District Court before Judge Jeffrey Kritzer. 

A sentencing date has not been set. A pre-sentence worksheet, an abbreviated form of a pre-sentence investigation, was ordered.

According to court records, McIntosh admitted to killing Madison in late October. Madison’s body was found in the Cedar River at its intersection with Orchard Creek, south of Austin, near Highway 105.

A medical examiner said Madison died of blunt force trauma and strangulation and ruled the death a homicide. 

Madison, according to the complaint, was last seen alive on Nov. 1, 2015. He had told several people he believed that McIntosh would harm him after McIntosh was released from jail on Oct. 29, 2015, because Madison was having a relationship with McIntosh’s girlfriend.

Investigators later uncovered evidence in his car and home that linked McIntosh to the murder, including cleaning agents and garbage bags, as well as blunt objects, such as a pipe wrench, hammer handle, a club and expandable baton. Blood stains were also found as well as a hat caked in mud similar to the mud on the river bank where Madison’s body was found.