A woman who prosecutors say was "obsessed" with her boyfriend was sent to prison Tuesday for killing the man's new girlfriend — one year and a day after the victim's burning body was spotted alongside a highway.
Third District Judge Robin Reese sentenced Sally Ann Krivanek, 29, to five years to life in prison for murdering Kellie Nelson, 23.
Nelson was kidnapped while on her way to work Dec. 1, 2002, was killed and her body was dumped along 9000 West and I-80 and set ablaze, according to prosecutors.
"How could a person . . . reach such depths of depravity, be so low, so careless, so callous, as to plot and plan and carry out taking a human life?" asked Neal Nelson, father of the victim.
Nelson described his daughter as a lively and loving young person who was a joy to be around and who was beloved by those who knew her.
"She would have accomplished so many wonderful things," he said, choking back tears. "We've been robbed of the beautiful experience of knowing her throughout her life. Society has been robbed of somebody who was a contributor."
Prosecutor Robert Stott denounced a written statement Krivanek provided the court, in which she apparently pleaded guilty not to the murder itself, even though that is what she was charged with, but to a portion of the legal language that lets her claim to be "a party to the offense."
Stott said a lengthy and thorough investigation of the crime showed no one else was involved.
"All evidence points to just one person — the defendant," Stott said, staring intently at Krivanek. "None of the reliable evidence points to anyone else."
Stott also said physical and forensic evidence links Krivanek to the crime, she had the motive to kill Nelson because "she was obsessed with the relationship with her boyfriend," and Krivanek has given many different and inconsistent explanations of her involvement in the crime.
Defense attorney Michael Peterson described the situation as "truly an unspeakable and unthinkable tragedy for everyone involved."
For her part, Krivanek wept during a short statement to the court: "There are no words to adequately express the depths of my remorse for the death and desecration of Kellie. I offer her family my most humble and sincere apologies for the pain and sorrow I have caused them."
Prosecutors originally charged Krivanek with third-degree felony desecration of a human body, but that was dropped in exchange for her guilty plea to first-degree murder.
Stott later said he was satisfied with the plea bargain that produced Krivanek's sentence, adding that he hopes the Board of Pardons looks hard at the "life" part of the five-years-to-life prison term.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com