SKOWHEGAN (AP) – A Canaan man who has been the focus of investigations into the death of one woman and the disappearance of another pleaded guilty Wednesday in Somerset County Superior Court to one of two counts of terrorizing.

Shannon Atwood, 37, will serve a nine-month jail sentence as part of a plea agreement in which prosecutors dropped the second count. He also faces two years of probation following the jail term.

Atwood was arrested in August after he allegedly used a bow and arrow to threaten detectives who arrived to search his house.

The arrest came two days after searchers found the body of Cheryl Murdoch, 37, of Waterville, buried in woods in Canaan. Murdoch had been staying with Atwood.

Investigators have been searching without success for Atwood’s estranged wife, Shirley Moon Atwood, 35, who vanished in late July.