RALEIGH, N.C. --A Wake Forest man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday after he pleaded guilty to the Oct. 2015 murder of his wife,reports CBS affiliate WNEM reports.

Lanson Paul Stalf, 39, pleaded guilty to killing his 34-year-old wife Stephanie Lynn Autry in their home on Oct. 27, 2015.

A nanny called police to Autry's home that day to check on her. She was found by responding officers at around 10:30 p.m., with a plastic bag wrapped around her head. Documents showed Autry was also covered with a blanket and a hammer was found in the home near the bathroom.

Stalf is a convicted bank robber and had just been released 12 days before, from a prison where he served time for the robbery of a PNC bank branch. He fled the state after the murder and set off a three-day nationwide manhunt before he was arrested at a Mississippi hotel. Authorities said he also robbed a bank in that state before his capture.

Autry's family released a statement calling the victim a "beautiful, compassionate and loving daughter, sister, friend and mother."

Stalf kept his head down for majority of the hearing and could be seen wiping away tears at one point.