Man admits stabbing girlfriend to death at Atlantic City, NJ casino

🔴 A Philadelphia man stabbed his girlfriend to death at the Hard Rock

🔴 He pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter last week

🔴 Authorities say the victim's body was covered with a sheet

ATLANTIC CITY — A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter for stabbing his girlfriend to death in a hotel room nearly two years ago.

Frankie Lane, 61, on Tuesday admitted to the June 2021 killing at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.

Authorities say police found Lane's girlfriend, 57-year-old Sharon Whaley, with multiple stab wounds around 9:45 p.m. on Friday, June 11, 2021. Whaley's body had been covered with a sheet and a knife had been left on top of the sheet.

As part of his attempts to distance himself from the stabbing, Lane put his clothes in a bag and threw them into a trash can in Atlantic City, according to the prosecutor's office. He was seen leaving the hotel with the bag but did not have it at the city bus terminal where he got on a bus to Philadelphia.

He managed to evade law enforcement for the weekend but was arrested a few days after in his home city.

Lane will be sentenced in June to 20 years in state prison. He will need to serve 85% of that time, or at least 17 years, before being eligible for parole.

Rick Rickman is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at richard.rickman@townsquaremedia.com

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