The homeless man who fatally stabbed a former Iowa State University golf star in broad daylight will spend the rest of his life in prison, a judge decided.
Story County Judge Bethany Currie handed down the mandatory sentence — life without parole — on Friday in the first-degree murder of Celia Barquin Arozamena, WHO TV in Des Moines reported.
Confessed killer Collin Richards, 22, wearing a striped prison jumpsuit and a scowl, apologized for the brutal slaying before officers hauled him from the courtroom in cuffs.
“I would just like to emphasize that I am sorry for what I’ve done,” Richards told the judge, who also ordered him to pay $150,000 in restitution to the woman’s family.
Richards admitted to randomly targeting Barquin Arozamena while she was playing a solo round in September last year at a golf course near the Des Moines campus.
The body of the Spanish-born Big 12 champion, also 22, was discovered partially undressed and stabbed multiple times in a pond on the ninth hole.
An acquaintance told authorities Richards divulged he had “an urge to rape and kill a woman.”
Richards, who lived in a makeshift campsite in a nearby wooded area, pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder in June.
A family spokesman said the sentence “brings the justice Celia deserved.”
“Celia was an example of important values such as effort and constancy in her goals, friendship and love for those around her,” the family said in a statement via attorney Jessica Reynolds. “And a smile and positive attitude when facing daily problems. We cannot think of a better way to pay tribute to her memory than to have those values present in our daily lives and our hearts.”