EDITOR'S NOTE: A video of Sandison's confession is available here.

SAGINAW, MI -- When given the chance, a convicted murderer had straightforward explanation for killing his cellmate in October at the Saginaw Correctional Facility.

"The reason I killed him was because he was a child molester," Steven D. Sandison said Monday, Feb. 23, in Saginaw County Circuit Court.

Speaking during his plea hearing before Chief Circuit Judge Fred L. Borchard, the 51-year-old Sandison was polite, addressing the judge as "sir," in explaining why he killed Theodore Dyer on Oct. 29 at the prison in Freeland.

At Borchard's request, Sandison first answered questions from his attorney, James Gust, to establish a "factual basis" for why he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. After answering "Yes" to several of Gust's questions, Sandison then provided his explanation.

"But," Gust then asked, "you did, in fact, kill him?"

"Oh, sure," Sandison said. "Oh, sure, of course."

Borchard later in the hearing asked Sandison how he killed the 67-year-old Dyer.

"If it's all right," Sandison replied, "I can tell you where it started."

"Go ahead," Borchard said.

Steven D. Sandison, left, is sworn in during his plea hearing in front of Saginaw County Chief Circuit Judge Fred L. Borchard on Feb. 23, 2015. Sandison, 51, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the Oct. 29, 2014, death of Theodore Dyer at the Saginaw Correctional Facility, 9625 Pierce in Tittabawassee Township.

Sandison said he found out that Dyer, a Grand Haven native, was in prison for a "really bad case" of child molestation.

"That night," Sandison said, "he was trying to justify why he did it, and I told him to keep quiet and that he'd have to leave in the morning, find a new cell. But he continued to talk about it, try to justify it. So, he was a little bit bigger than me, so I got down, and I hit him in his face a few times. When he fell, I wrapped a cord around his neck and I took his life."

The murder charge to which Sandison pleaded carries a maximum penalty of life in prison with the possibility of parole. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors will drop an open count of murder, which includes second-degree murder and first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Sandison already is serving life without parole for an Oct. 23, 1991, murder in Wayne County.

After Dyer's death, Michigan Department of Corrections personnel transferred Sandison to a higher custody setting. Sandison now is lodged at the Ionia Correctional Facility at the highest security level and is scheduled for an April 8 sentencing before Borchard.

"I assume," Borchard said at the end of the hearing, "you're not going to be leaving there, moving to another facility for a while."

"No," Sandison replied. "My life sucks, sir."

-- Andy Hoag covers courts for MLive/The Saginaw News. Email him at ahoag@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter @awhoag