Advertisement 'I deserve it:' Daughter pleads guilty in mother's brutal murder in Salem Township Sarah Vercauteren sentenced to life without parole for killing Dawn Marie Wagner Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The daughter of a woman whose body was found inside her Salem Township home nine days after she was killed pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder.Sarah Vercauteren, 27, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing her mother, Dawn Marie Wagner, 51, on New Year's Eve 2013 at their home in the Forbes Trail Mobile Home Park.Vercauteren told Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani that she wanted to take responsibility for her actions and deserved a life sentence.Video: Watch the reportVercauteren tearfully apologized after her stepfather said he was "still working on forgiving" her but loved her.Police said Vercauteren hit her mother 18 times with a hammer and strangled her when the older woman refused to let her take her car. She was previously charged with stealing from employees to pay for drugs.After Wagner's death, state police said Vercauteren stayed at the home with her 2-year-old son and her mother's body, pretending to be Wagner in texts with her estranged husband so no one would know the woman was dead.Nine days later, the husband found Wagner's body inside the home and called police. Authorities said he went there out of concern because he hadn't seen Wagner and was told that she had not shown up for work.Photos: Woman's death investigated in Salem TownshipPolice said Vercauteren and her mother got into an argument over her mother's vehicle, and Vercauteren grabbed a hammer from the kitchen drawer and repeatedly hit her mother in the head.After striking Wagner with the hammer, Vercauteren dragged her mother into the bathroom and duct-taped her hands and legs so she couldn't escape, police said."Realizing her mother was still alive, (Vercauteren) bent down over her mother and she tried to strangle her with her bare hands," police said. She left her mother lying on the bathroom floor and fled the home.Three neighbors said they heard Wagner's dog "howling for days" before the body was found.