Man pleads no contest in 1975 slayings of brothers

Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — A man accused of fatally beating and stabbing two suburban Detroit brothers in 1975 has pleaded no contest to manslaughter.

The Detroit Free Press reports (http://on.freep.com/Sxiadw ) 57-year-old David Fowler made the plea Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court. A first-degree murder charge was dismissed.

A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

Fowler was extradited from Georgia in February 2012 after DNA tests linked him to the deaths of 34-year-old Michael Belt and 18-year-old Jeffrey Belt. The men were beaten with a board and stabbed during a robbery.

Fowler had been in prison under an alias. He has previous convictions for shoplifting, receiving stolen property and escape.

He's scheduled to be sentenced May 23.

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Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com