An 18-year-old Latrobe man has been arrested and jailed in Texas after confessing to the slaying of businessman William McMichael Jones, whose body was found in his Ligonier apartment early Wednesday.

Westmoreland County District Attorney John W. Peck said Anthony Blaine Mowry, 18, of Latrobe, admitted the killing when interviewed by two county detectives who traveled yesterday to Fort Hood, Texas, where Mr. Mowry is in the Army.

District Judge Mark S. Mansour subsequently issued a criminal complaint charging Mr. Mowry with first-degree murder, robbery, arson and theft. Mr. Peck said the complaint was being forwarded late yesterday to the sheriff's office in Bell County, Texas, requesting the extradition of Mr. Mowry to Westmoreland County.

Mr. Mowry was being held last night in the Bell County Jail awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania, according to a spokeswoman for the Bell County Sheriff's office.

Mr. Jones, 75, was the great-grandson of one of the founding partners of Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. and a former media consultant. He resigned in 1988 as president of the Tribune-Review Publishing Co.

Mr. Peck said it appeared Mr. Jones knew Mr. Mowry, but authorities would not elaborate on their relationship. According to a police affidavit, Mr. Mowry went to Mr. Jones' East Main Street apartment either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning "with the intention of beating him."

"We have evidence the defendant offered to have sex with Mr. Jones, left the room and when he returned, he either beat Mr. Jones or stabbed Mr. Jones," Mr. Peck said. "And as a result of the stab wounds, according to Dr. [Cyril] Wecht who performed the autopsy ... Mr. Jones died."

Detectives said Mr. Mowry beat Mr. Jones with chimes from a grandfather clock, a candlestick and his fists. He then stabbed Mr. Jones and cut his throat. After that, Mr. Mowry said, he "stuck around" for a while drinking, then took $400 in cash from Mr. Jones' apartment and the keys to his gray 1990 Cadillac.

"He then set the house on fire in a number of different places," Mr. Peck said, and left in Mr. Jones' car.

Firefighters responding to the fire at 5:23 a.m. Wednesday found Mr. Jones' body in a bedroom. Police then issued a bulletin with the description of his missing car.

Mr. Peck said a young woman heard a news report and contacted authorities, telling them that she had encountered a young man driving a gray Cadillac "at a certain location" at about 6:30 a.m.

"There was some interaction between herself and the defendant," Mr. Peck said, though he would not elaborate beyond saying that the woman did not know Mr. Mowry. Her information, however, led detectives to the location where someone was able to provide an identification.

Mr. Jones' car was found by a firefighter in a wooded area off Route 31 in Donegal later Wednesday.

Mr. Peck said Mr. Mowry was driven to a local airport "by friends" and returned Wednesday to Fort Hood, where he was stationed.

Authorities did not know Mr. Mowry's military status and could not say whether he was away without leave from Fort Hood over the past months. He already was on bail from Somerset County Prison, where he had spent eight days after he was arrested last month on multiple charges that included driving while intoxicated, giving false information to police and underage drinking.

Initially, his bail was set at $20,000 and was later reduced to a nonmonetary bail. Released from the jail sometime around Aug. 18, he was given a public defender and waived his case to court.

Mr. Mowry briefly attended Ligonier Valley High School, offcials there said, but he transferred to Greater Latrobe High School during his freshman year.