The four-year search for a Butler County man's killer finally came to an end on Tuesday as Sammie Crenshaw pleaded guilty to murdering William &#8220Billy” Creech in January 2002.

In a plea agreement reached by the district attorney's office and Crenshaw's representation, Sellers and Swan, Crenshaw will serve four years in prison and five years of supervised probation of a 20-year sentence handed down by Circuit Judge Edward McFerrin.

District Attorney John Andrews said the sentence was satisfactory for Creech's family, who were in the courtroom on Tuesday.

&#8220They were emotional because they faced the man who killed Billy,” he said. &#8220And they heard him say he killed him.”

Andrews said a discarded cigarette butt linked Crenshaw to the scene of the crime, which took place on January 29, 2002. He said DNA taken from Crenshaw matched that found on the cigarette butt, discovered by former chief deputy sheriff Kenny Hardin. Investigators said Crenshaw shot Creech twice in the chest.

&#8220I want to commend the Butler County Sheriff's Office and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation for helping close this case,” said Andrews.

In October 2004 Crenshaw

was released from Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery, where he was serving time for drug and robbery convictions.

Subsequently, he was arrested by Butler County sheriff's deputies and charged with Creech's murder.