A Frenchman who murdered former Wellington woman Jeanette O'Keefe has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Originally from Melbourne, the 28-year-old computer programmer's body was found wrapped in a sleeping bag in a crime-ridden neighbourhood near Paris on January 2, 2001 - the day she planned to return to New Zealand via New York, and three days after a series of circumstances left her without anywhere to stay.
Brazilian-born Adriano Araujo Da Silva, 36, was found guilty of Ms O'Keefe's murder in a court at Versailles on Friday, Agence France-Presse reported.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with a minimum sentence of 20 years.
Da Silva twice confessed to killing Ms O'Keefe but later retracted his confession, pleading not guilty ahead of his trial last week.
Ms O'Keefe had lived and worked in Wellington before moving to Paris to study French two months before she was killed.
She was due to leave France on January 2 but was worried about where she would stay for her last two nights in France.
A lawyer acting for the family, Caty Richard, said Ms O'Keefe handed back her keys to her hostel on New Year's Eve and planned to meet a French friend, who was an hour late.
"She called an Australian friend, but he was also an hour late, so she set off on a suburban train to head to her French friend's house, and met this young man, who must have sensed her vulnerability.''
Her body was found at the Quartier des Musiciens housing estate, an area west of Paris notorious for teenage gang activity.
Prosecutor Soizic Flouriot told the court Da Silva bashed Ms O'Keefe about the head with a blunt instrument and strangled her.
"What's striking is the ferocity of Jeanette's murderer - 13 blunt wounds, 13 blows takes time and the cause of death is just as awful, a double strangling.''
Da Silva wrapped her body in a sleeping bag, dumped her out his window and dragged her body to a nearby parking lot.
He was charged with murder after he was arrested on another charge eight years after Ms O'Keefe's death, when his DNA was found to match that found under her fingernails.
Da Silva denied her murder but admitted he took Ms O'Keefe home, where they got into an argument.
He said he handed her a sleeping bag and sent her on her way.
Da Silva said he would appeal against his conviction, telling the court: "You can convict me but I did not kill her.''
Ms O'Keefe's mother Susan told APNZ last week that her daughter had loved New Zealand and had been planning to return.
"She loved the lifestyle there and the ruggedness of it, and she really felt she fitted in.''
Her father Kevin said his daughter had worked in both Auckland and Wellington, where she was well-regarded.
"She was a software developer and she was quite highly thought of, apparently, because she was quite a brilliant person,''
