Guilty plea in NY love-triangle slaying

A man who became entangled in a lovers' triangle over the Internet pleaded guilty to manslaughter Monday in the shooting death of his rival _ a co-worker at a factory.

Thomas Montgomery, 48, averted a murder trial by pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter for killing Brian Barrett, 22, in the parking lot of Dynabrade Corp. in the suburb of Clarence.

Barrett was shot three times at close range after finishing a night shift last September. His body was found in his truck in the parking lot two days later.

Both men were involved in an Internet relationship with a 40-something West Virginia woman who was using her daughter's Web page information to pose as an 18-year-old.

The motive, investigators said, was jealousy over Barrett's budding Internet relationship with the same woman Montgomery had been wooing since the previous year.

Under the plea, Montgomery is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison on Oct. 29. If convicted of second-degree murder, he could have been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.