A man accused of repeatedly stabbing a friend in 1984 after she rejected his romantic advances, then leaving her body to be found by her mother beside a blood-soaked bed, was convicted of capital murder late Friday by a Texas jury and sentenced to life in prison.

Ryland Shane Absalon, 45, was accused of stabbing 18-year-old Ginger Hayden more than 50 times in her family's Fort Worth apartment. Prosecutors alleged that he confessed two years later during a drug-treatment program, yet he wasn't charged until about 25 years later after the case was re-opened and DNA evidence was tested.

Absalon lowered his head as the verdict was read, and his wife began crying. She ran out of the courtroom sobbing loudly as the judge read the sentence of life in prison, which was automatic because prosecutors didn't seek the death penalty.

Hayden's relatives cried quietly in the courtroom.

Investigators said Hayden was attacked in her bed with a kitchen knife.