(Newser) – Philip Snider's story was unusual from the start. In January, the 73-year-old told police a convoluted tale: That he and his 70-year-old wife, who was in poor health, traveled from Hartville, Ohio, to to see Elvis Presley's Graceland in what was to be their last trip. Except, per Snider, Roberta Snider died in a hotel parking lot, he flagged down an ambulance, and he never saw her body again. Fast forward to Monday, when Snider was sentenced to life in prison with the chance for parole in 20 years. He pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated murder, tampering with evidence, and gross abuse of a corpse. What happened between January and that sentencing is a bizarre tale. Here it is:

CantonRep.com notes Snider's story changed a number of times, with Snider abandoning the ambulance story and claiming instead that Roberta died on the way to Memphis, that he kept her body in the back of his truck, stayed at a Days Inn near Graceland—police have verified that only he checked in—and dumped his wife's body into the Tennessee River from an I-40 bridge on Jan. 6.