LOS ANGELES (AP) - Prosecutors say a man who kidnapped and killed a Southern California gas station attendant nearly 40 years ago has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Neal Antoine Matthews was convicted in September of first-degree murder for the death of Leslie Long. She was working a night shift in Palmdale when she disappeared on Dec. 3, 1978. Her body was found three days later along a freeway.
Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegations of murder during a robbery, murder during a kidnapping and murder during a rape.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Monday that Matthews, now 60, was linked to Long’s murder via DNA evidence.
Co-defendant Terry Moses, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to three consecutive terms to life in prison.
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