SEATTLE -- An admitted ax-murderer is expected to be sentenced Friday, but there are fears from the family of the victim that Scott White might escape a lengthy prison sentence.

It has been two years since the body of former Seattle radio host Mike Webb was discovered shoved into a crawl space inside his home.

Police arrested Scott White, a man who had been living with Webb, for the murder. Investigators say White eventually confessed to killing Webb with an ax during a fight and hiding his body.

Charging documents did not provide a specific motive, said detectives said that White stole a car and money from Webb, and had pawned several electronic items from Webb's home.

"I had just assumed he would go away forever when he was arrested," said Webb's sister Marian Bogni.

Bogni said they were surprised when the King County prosecutor agreed to allow White to plead guilty to second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors at the time said because of White's history of mental illness, getting a first-degree murder conviction would be too difficult.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors are recommending a sentence range from 10 to 20 years in prison.

Now Webb's family says they've learned the defense attorney may ask a judge for an "exceptional downward sentence," which would allow the judge to grant lower than normal sentence.

White's defense attorney, Julie Lawry, says ideally White should be getting mental treatment and not prison time, but that isn't something the judge can do.

"I think the family is clearly traumatized and it's understandable in a vacuum of information, but the court has a duty to look at the whole picture and not just go for revenge," said Lawry.

Lawry believes she would have been able to prove at trial that White was mentally unstable and she says the prosecutors didn't enter into the plea agreement without deliberation. "This agreement reflects a rational decision based on the possibilities at trial," she said.

Lawry says her client is remorseful about the murder and that White has schizoaffective disorder.

Bogni and other family members are flying to Seattle to be in court Friday and to beg the judge to sentence White to the maximum prison time allowable.