Colin Daniel Richards, 22, is charged with the September 15 murder of 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena, who was found stabbed to death on a golf course in Ames, Iowa

A homeless man who was charged with the murder of a college golf star pleaded guilty on Friday.

Colin Daniel Richards, 22, is charged with the September 15 murder of 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena, who was found stabbed to death on a golf course in Ames, Iowa.

Richards will be given a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole on August 23, per Iowa law.

'My heart is with Celia's family today with the hope that this result will bring them some level of comfort,' Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said in the statement.

'Please know our entire community supports you and grieves with you.'

Richards previously pleaded not guilty to the murder and was slated to stand trial in September.

Celia Barquin Arozamena was found brutally stabbed to death on September 15

Richards penned this letter to an Iowa judge, who said his lawyers must call for a hearing

Arozamena's body was found in a pond at the Coldwater Links golf course in September.

A native of Spain, she was a former civil engineering student at Iowa State University and was ranked 69th nationally for US women's golf.

An autopsy revealed she was slashed in three times in the chest, as well as in the head, neck and left leg and her blood covered the golf course fairway, according to the Des Moines Register.

Some of her clothes were missing and she was found in a sports bra and golfing skirt. It's not clear if she was sexually assaulted.

Cops tracked down Richards and arrested him as the suspected killer after a K-9 officer traced Barquin's scent to a temporary camp along a creek near the golf course, where Richards had been living in a tent.

Evidence reveals homeless Iowa man Collin Richards may have had three knives on him when he allegedly murdered Spanish golfer 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena

A native of Spain, Arozamena was a former civil engineering student at Iowa State University and was ranked 69th nationally for US women's golf

She was playing golf at Coldwater Golf Links course when she was murdered and her body thrown into a pond

New court documents show that after the alleged killing he came to this home to shower in the garage, pictured left. A witness says he was disheveled and covered in blood.

An acquaintance told cops Richards was recently staying there. Richards has said he completed only an eighth grade education and spent much of his life as a transient.

At the encampment, cops found six articles of clothing with blood stains and seized the two tents there, two blankets, and a backpack.

They found Richard there with fresh scratches on his face consistent with fighting, as well as a cut on his hand.

An acquaintance also told police that days before he was arrested Richards said he had 'an urge to rape and kill a woman', cops said.

Investigators also tracked down a Facebook page believed to be Richards and found a photo uploaded back in July of a comic depicting a person holding a coffee cup with the caption 'let's go commit a murder' and another person was depicted adding milk to the coffee with the caption 'let's contemplate a murder'.

Barquin was one of the most accomplished players in Iowa University's golf history and would have been a competitor at next year's Women's British Open at Woburn Former college golf star found dead on Iowa golf course

Family and friends carried Celia Barquin's coffin into her funeral procession in torrelavega Cantabria, Spain on September 30 after she was stabbed to death

A witness told police that Richards had showed up bloody on the day of the murder and asked to take a shower in his garage. After he showered he left with the blood-stained clothes in his backpack, witness Christopher Johnson said.

The garage was set on fire on September 20, leading cops to the scene where they found two kitchen knives with one blade longer than four inches and one serrated.

Cops said the hideous puncture wounds on the golfer's body were made with a blade at least four inches long.

A man told agents he recently saw Richards carrying a large knife with a serrated back edge used to cut wood, according to court documents.