Salina ? A man who eluded authorities for nearly 20 years has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a 22-year-old woman.

Robert Henry Lackey II, 52, was also sentenced Monday to an additional 45 years for raping Sara Ann Brecheisen before he strangled her.

Lackey declined to make a statement before sentencing.

Brecheisen, from the tiny eastern Kansas town of Welda, was a student at Brown Mackie College and a volunteer at a men’s homeless shelter.

Lackey lived and worked as a cook at the mission. He disappeared from Salina on Dec. 11, 1982, the day investigators believe Brecheisen was killed.

Days later, Brecheisen’s boyfriend found her body in a closet of her mobile home.

Prosecutors contended Lackey had a crush on Brecheisen that turned to anger when she rejected his offer for a date. Lackey was arrested by authorities in Alabama in February 2002 after they traced his whereabouts from a Social Security number.

A jury convicted Lackey in November of premeditated first-degree murder and rape, largely upon the strength of DNA evidence collected from the victim.

Medical experts testified the chances of anyone else but Lackey matching the DNA sample were 1 in 194 billion.

Lackey’s lead attorney, Mitch Christians of the Salina Regional Public Defender’s Office, argued unsuccessfully at trial that the DNA evidence proved the pair had sex but didn’t prove Lackey committed the murder.