SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A man who helping to beat a Salina woman with a chain before strangling and drowning her has died.

The Kansas Department of Corrections says 30-year-old Joel Heil died Sunday.

Hiel was in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the 2013 death of 27-year-old Kristin Tyler.

Corrections department spokesman Samir Arif confirmed Heil’s death but said he was not in state custody and couldn’t provide details about Heil’s death.

Heil was incarcerated at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility but was taken to Leavenworth County last Thursday for a court hearing.

Tyler’s battered body was found in May 2013. Prosecutors say she was killed because Heil and another man, Dane DeWeese, thought she had stolen money and drugs and suspected her of being a police informant.