BEND, Ore. (AP) - A man accused of killing a woman during his shift as a campus safety officer at an Oregon community college was sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to aggravated murder.
Edwin Lara entered the plea Monday in the city of Bend. He was sentenced at a hearing that afternoon.
Authorities say Lara kidnapped and tried to sexually assault 23-year-old Kaylee Sawyer as she took a late-night walk, and then killed her to cover up his crimes.
He later kidnapped a woman in Salem and drove her drove to California, where he shot and wounded a man before carjacking a vehicle with a family inside, police said.
Sawyer's mother, Juli Walden VanCleave, posted on Facebook earlier this month that Lara agreed to a plea deal that would send him to prison for life, avoiding a possible death sentence.