A judge sentenced Tyrone Kessler Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison for the 1987 murder of Kathy Young.
In the county's oldest "cold case" to go to trial, Kessler, 42, was convicted Sept. 14 of the murder, based on preserved DNA evidence. Young, 33, was bound, beaten, raped and strangled in her North Side home.
Kessler was a former next-door neighbor, and advancements in DNA technology tied him to the crime.
Keith St. John, one of the original detectives assigned to Young's May 1987 slaying, helped crack the case in 2005, when he was working as an investigator with the Pima County Attorney's Office.
At Tuesday's sentencing, Pima County Superior Court Judge Deborah Bernini said she would have sentenced Kessler to natural life in prison, but had to sentence him under 1987 law and was limited to the 25 years to life.
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Deputy Pima County Attorney Kathleen Mayer said the wrong done to Young's family can never be remedied and noted that kidnapping and sexual-assault charges against Kessler had been dismissed.
Before the hearing, Bernini received five letters from Young's family members.
About two dozen relatives and friends of Young's were present in court for the sentencing, and her brother and nephew spoke briefly to the court. Afterward the family declined to comment.
"The only person here unable to speak is Kathy. He took care of that," brother Patrick Malloy said .
"He's going to pay for what he did to my sister, but that still doesn't help us. God bless the detectives who did this for us."
Young's nephew Terry Malloy asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence and pledged that family members would be at any future parole hearings to argue against Kessler's release.
Her killing "will never be understood by our family. It was senseless," he said.
Kessler declined to address the court.
Kessler's attorney, Larry Lingeman, said he filed a notice of appeal and afterward was granted a motion to withdraw as defense attorney for the appeals process.
In June 2005, Kessler was arrested in Florida, where he'd been living for about a year and a half.
Authorities had reopened Young's case, which became the first crime solved by the Sheriff's Department's cold-case unit. The unit was established in 2004.
