Calling from Texas five days ago, John M. King told Minneapolis police he had committed the perfect murder.

In October, he and his new girlfriend, 51-year-old Pam Sjogren, got in a fight because she wouldn't deal with some personal issues. He claimed she poked him in the eye, which angered him to the point that he put her in a "full nelson'' sleeper hold for 40 seconds until she passed out. King told police he believed he broke her neck.

Because Sjogren had threatened suicide in the past, King left her body hanging from a rope in her garage, a wooden stepladder kicked out from her feet, according to charges detailing the crime. The Hennepin County medical examiner ruled it a suicide.

Police speculate a guilty conscience may be the reason King decided to confess. In a statement to police, he said he didn't want Sjogren's children to think she had killed herself.

On Monday, King, 50, who is described as a drifter, turned himself into the Texas Rangers in Dallas. He is now charged with second-degree murder and is awaiting extradition to Minnesota.

"It's an unusual case to have somebody come in three months later and confess to the crime, but he felt guilty and wanted to do the right thing," said Lt. Richard Zimmerman, head of the Minneapolis homicide unit.

Even though charges have been filed, Zimmerman said police and the medical examiner will continue their investigations. Investigators have evidence to corroborate King's story, he said.

Police informed Sjogren's son Robert Silver about the charges against King. He couldn't be reached for comment.

Christian Hallanger, who said he had lived across the street from Sjogren's duplex for 10 years, said neighbors "were always surprised that she killed herself because she was a strong and assertive woman."