DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa judge refused to consider a man’s guilty plea to a charge of attempted murder after the man wouldn’t admit in court that he tried to kill his wife. The Telegraph Herald reports that Judge Michael Shubatt ended the plea hearing Wednesday in a Dubuque County courtroom for 51-year-old Clifford Smiley. Smiley’s accused of stabbing his estranged wife in a Dubuque store parking lot on April 1. A proposed plea deal would have dropped five other charges in exchange for Smiley’s guilty plea to attempted murder.

When Shubatt asked Smiley whether he was voluntarily pleading guilty, Smiley said he didn’t have much choice, given the possible sentence of 52 years without the deal. He denied intentionally stabbing the woman. He told the judge: “If I (had) thought of killing her, she would’ve been dead.”

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted in 1994 of killing his girlfriend in Des Moines has died at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville. The Des Moines Register reports that 79-year-old Ralph Carlson died Thursday. He’d been living in the facility’s hospice center because of an undisclosed illness. Court records say Carlson was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing Rita Young. Authorities say he stashed her body behind the furnace of his Des Moines home.

His first-degree murder conviction was upheld in 1996 by the Iowa Supreme Court.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) _ Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) on Friday reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $275 million. On a per-share basis, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company said it had profit of $1.66. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $1.73 per share. The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.89 per share. The aviation electronics company posted revenue of $2.21 billion in the period.

Rockwell Collins shares have increased roughly 2 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has climbed 6 percent. The stock has risen 26 percent in the last 12 months.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — State regulators have approved plans for a psychiatric hospital in a Des Moines suburb. The Iowa Health Facilities Council voted 5-0 Thursday for Mercy Medical Center’s proposal to erect the 100-bed hospital in Clive. The Des Moines Register reports that some Clive residents had opposed the idea, raising concerns that the facility could pose a danger to their children. Three Clive residents filed written objections to the state council, compared with 13 letters of support. No one spoke in opposition at Thursday’s council meeting.

Mercy Medical plans to partner with a for-profit company, Universal Health Services. The new facility could open by June 2020.