Rockville man pleads guilty in 2021 slaying

A Rockville man pleaded guilty Friday in the death of his former manager in 2021, the Montgomery County state’s attorney’s office said.

Billy J. Phillips, 38, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court to first-degree murder, home invasion and armed robbery in the fatal shooting of Geoffrey Biddle, 66, of Bethesda on June 23, 2021, the prosecutor’s office said.

Investigators have said Biddle died after encountering someone who had gone to his house to steal.

The prosecutor’s office said Friday that it would ask for imposition of the maximum penalty, which includes life in prison.