Convicted killer of missing teen Brittanee Drexel sentenced to life in prison

By Amir Vera and Claudia Dominguez, CNN

The man convicted of killing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Wednesday.

Raymond Douglas Moody, 62, was also sentenced to two consecutive 30-year sentences for the charges of criminal sexual assault and kidnapping.

Moody pleaded guilty to all the charges against him before the judge read the sentence.

“I was a monster, was a monster then, was a monster when I took Brittanee Drexel’s life,” Moody said while addressing the courtroom. “I don’t have the words to express how horrible I feel and I’ve felt ever since that day. I’m very sorry.”

Brittanee’s family was present at the sentencing hearing and requested the judge hand out the harshest sentence against Moody.

Chad Drexel, Brittanee’s adoptive father, called Moody a “perverted, sick monster,” while her mother, Dawn Drexel, asked the judge to sentence Moody “to the fullest extent of the law.”

Brittanee, who was from the Rochester, New York, area, was last seen on April 25, 2009, on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. She was reportedly on the way to meet friends at another hotel when she disappeared.

Her mother told CNN at the time she had forbidden her daughter to go to Myrtle Beach, a popular destination for high school and college spring break. The teen went anyway, and after she disappeared, Dawn Drexel drove to Myrtle Beach to help authorities in the search.

In May, Brittanee’s remains were found in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The investigation led authorities to a site where they believe Moody buried her body a day after she went missing. Authorities said Moody kidnapped and strangled the teen the same day she disappeared.

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CNN’s Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.