By Associated Press - Thursday, January 23, 2014

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A South Florida man has received three life sentences for raping and bludgeoning a woman to death more than a decade ago.

A Palm Beach County judge sentenced 38-year-old Larry Thomas on Wednesday, right after a jury found him guilty.

Authorities say 52-year-old Henriette Celestin was found dead in 2002 by her then-8-year-old grandson at her daughter’s suburban Lake Worth home. The Palm Beach Post (https://goo.gl/LKxRpK ) reports that Thomas was charged in 2010 after DNA evidence linked him to the crime.

Thomas testified in court that he and Celestin had been having a consensual sexual relationship and that she was alive the last time he saw her.

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Information from: The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, https://www.pbpost.com

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