Ernie Simmons, who was convicted in the 1992 strangulation of 80-year-old Anna Knaise, was previously granted a new trial. Officials close to the case said his attorneys are working out a plea deal for third-degree murder, which would mean a shorter prison sentence.

Defense and prosecutors were still working on a plea bargain as of noon.

In 1993, Simmons was convicted and sentenced to death for killing Knaise in her Johnstown home. But a federal judge ruled in 2005 that prosecutors withheld some evidence that could have helped Simmons' defense, and the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision in ordering a new trial.

Later, investigators took DNA swabs from Simmons because evidence gathered at the scene wasn't tested for DNA at the time.

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