Brooke Lynn Crews on Monday admitted to conspiring to kill a pregnant Savanna Greywind and then stealing the dead woman's baby, a shocking crime the Fargo police chief had described as a "cruel, vicious act of depravity."

The 22-year-old Greywind, who'd been eight months pregnant, was last seen at her Fargo apartment Aug. 19. Authorities in Fargo and Moorhead, Minn., launched an intensive search for her after police found a newborn baby and arrested Crews and William Henry Hoehn, Greywind's neighbors.

The pair indicated to police that the infant was Greywind's but would not answer questions about her whereabouts.

Kayakers later discovered Greywind's body wrapped in plastic and duct tape in the Red River. Police also probed an abandoned northwestern Minnesota farmstead as a possible crime scene.

North Dakota prosecutors filed murder conspiracy and kidnapping conspiracy charges against Crews and Hoehn. Both pleaded innocent.

Crews on Monday pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and providing false information to police. She admitted in court she was responsible for Greywind's killing.

She'll be sentenced Jan. 16. She faces life in prison.

Defense attorney Steven Mottinger said he hoped the plea will reduce the sentence for Crews.

"Miss Crews took responsibility because she wanted to take responsibility," Mottinger said. "The rest of this will have to work its way through the process. But, certainly, I think that goes a long ways in terms of us being able to argue for something less than life without parole when that time comes."

The baby is in the custody of her father, Greywind's boyfriend.