LAS VEGAS — Darren Mack, the wealthy Reno businessman accused of killing his estranged wife and shooting their divorce judge, pleaded guilty to murder Monday, the day his lawyers were to begin presenting evidence at his trial.

Under the terms of the plea agreement with prosecutors, Mack, 46, will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years of a life sentence for the 2006 fatal stabbing of his wife, Charla.

Mack had faced a potential sentence of life in prison without parole if jurors, who had been hearing evidence for a week and a half, convicted him.

District Court Judge Douglas Herndon will sentence Mack Jan. 17. Although the judge could impose a different sentence than the one agreed to by the parties, Herndon told Mack Monday that he does not plan to deviate from the deal. (VIDEO)

As part of the plea, Mack also acknowledged guilt in the sniper-style attack on Judge Chuck Weller, a Washoe County family court judge who presided over the couple's $1 million divorce settlement.

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With Weller seated in the front row of the courtroom, Mack pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the shooting, but continued to maintain that he wanted only to wound the judge to expose alleged misconduct. He entered an Alford plea, under which a defendant concedes there is enough evidence to convict him without admitting guilt, to the part of the attempted murder charge requiring an intent to kill.

He faces two to 20 years in prison on that charge at the January sentencing.

The case was moved to Las Vegas because of extensive publicity in Reno.

During the trial, Mack claimed he was acting in self-defense when he killed his 39-year-old wife and was not guilty by reason of insanity two hours later when he gunned Weller down. He advanced the dual defense against the advice of his two lawyers, who told the judge before the trial began that they recommended he pursue an insanity defense for both charges.

In the prosecution's case, which ended Friday, jurors heard evidence of a "to do" list found in Mack's kitchen that included the words "end problem," a reference to the premeditated murder of Charla Mack, according to prosecutors.

Instead of beginning his defense Monday morning as scheduled, Mack caucused with his lawyers and relatives. After an hour and 15 minutes, Herndon announced that a deal had been reached.

A defense attorney, David Chesnoff, said Mack wanted to avoid putting on a defense because it would include attacks on the reputation of Charla Mack.

"That was a major consideration," Chesnoff said.

The couple have a 9-year-old daughter, Erika, who lives with her maternal grandmother.

The child was not in court for the plea, but Mack's two teenage children from a previous marriage were, as were his mother, brother, grandmother and girlfriend.