PICTURES taken in court of the man responsible for the death of an aspiring model have shown him smirking in front of the judge and the victim's family.
On Thursday, in El Paso, Colorado, Joel Hollendorfer, 47, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 24 years behind bars after killing aspiring model Kara Nichols, 19.
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Hollendorfer strangled Nichols to death before burying her in a horse grave on his family's land in 2012, per Law & Crime.
Fourth Judicial District Court Judge William Bain issued the maximum sentencing along with an accredited 571 days of time served already by Hollendorfer.
His charge was initially second-degree murder, but in June, a jury found him guilty of manslaughter.
Victim impact statements were read aloud in court, and the 47-year-old reportedly smirked while loved ones spoke and appeared to show no remorse, per local NBC News outlet KOAA 5.
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Julia Nichols, Kara's mother, claimed that her daughter's killer was "remorseless" and "smiling."
“I declined to watch him, but from what others told me, he looked remorseless, and he smiled at times,” she told the news station.
Autumn Hopfe and Erin Wyrick, close friends of the aspiring model, argued in their impact statements that Hollendorfer should have been convicted of first-degree murder for his crimes.
Hopfe explained her feelings to KOAA after the proceedings.
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"I’m very angry. I'm sad I'm frustrated,” she said.
“This is someone's life who has taken at the hands of a man who is violent.”
Wyrick was also unsatisfied with the ruling.
"I still don't think that justice was served," she noted.
"I can only hope that he never gets out of prison."
“As her friend, it's just my job to make sure that her memory and her life is cherished and talked about," Wyrick added.
The family also opposed the possibility of parole in court on Thursday, and District Attorney Michael Allen stressed to Judge Bain that the sentencing deserved to be the maximum for Hollendorfer.
“This senseless crime deserves a more severe punishment than what the law can provide,” Allen stated, per KOAA.
"We urge the Department of Corrections to uphold the entirety of the...sentence."
Around the same time as the killing of Nichols, Hollendorfer was convicted of harassment and protection order violations.
Although, given that the charges were only misdemeanors, they couldn't be used to enhance the 47-year-old's sentence.
Nichols went missing on October 9, 2012, after she told her family she was headed to Denver for a job.
Police had her last known location in El Paso County near an unincorporated area.
Days later, on October 14 of that year, Nichols' family filed an official missing persons report.
Hollendorfer previously lived at a residence 15 miles from where the aspiring model was last seen alive, according to public records.
He became a suspect for investigators, who obtained a search warrant only last year after his ex-wife was interviewed during a cold case review.
While speaking to the FBI, she claimed Hollendorfer confessed to her that he had killed an escort and buried the body on his family's property, per Law & Crime.
A search warrant was then obtained, and coroners identified remains in one horse grave to be that of Nichols.
The teen was seemingly addicted to drugs, and Judge Bain argued that Hollendorfer took advantage of Nichols' struggle.
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"You knew she was addicted to heroin, and you gave it to her, used her body in a vile way, put hands around her neck, and rendered her unconscious,” he said in court.
Hollendorfer will be taken to a Colorado state correctional facility to serve his sentence.
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