CARBONDALE, IL — A 30-year-old Carbondale man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Jackson County Court to the 2016 first degree murder of former Salem resident Robin Stief.

Robert Dennis was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Count 1 of his indictment charging him with first degree murder. Counts 2 and 3 charging him with first degree murder and concealing a homicidal death were dismissed per the plea agreement. In 2017, defense attorneys raised a doubt as to Dennis’s mental fitness to stand trial. Following his removal from his 2018 trial, Dennis was again examined but was then found unfit and was remanded into the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services for treatment. He was finally found fit last spring to stand trial on the two first-degree murder charges and the Class 3 felony charge of concealing a homicidal death.

Two others, 28-year-old Lauren Stinde and 27-year-old Tiesha Anderson are currently serving 30 and 40 years in prison respectively for Stief’s murder and the burning of her body.

In addition to his 40 year prison sentence, Dennis will serve three years mandatory supervised release. He was given credit for time served in the Jackson County Jail since his arrest on October 14, 2016.