It was unclear Monday which side made the offer and what plea would be entered by Davis Don Carpenter. But sources say the defense approached the prosecution with the offer to accept a penalty of life in prison if the prosecution would take the death penalty off the table.

Benton County Prosecutor Bob Balfe would not comment on the possibility of a plea offer, but said no deal has been made.

Carpenter, 39, is charged in the Sept. 26, 1999, rape and murder of 13-year-old Jesse Dirkhising. The prosecution maintains that Carpenter directed the assault in which Jesse was drugged, bound with duct tape and nylon rope, gagged with a pair of dirty underwear and raped over a period of hours. The trial is set for May 7.

Carpenter's roommate and homosexual lover, Joshua Macabe Brown, 23, was convicted of first-degree murder and rape in the same case and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors were also seeking his execution.

In a jailhouse interview with The Associated Press last week, Brown said that Carpenter physically participated in the rape of young Jesse. That didn't come out in the trial.

Brown said he did not initially tell prosecutors the truth because his lawyers advised him against talking to the prosecution.

During Brown's trial, prosecutors had a taped confession of Brown admitting rape but saying the murder was an accident.