A man who beat an elderly widow to death after dragging her into the basement of her St. Paul home last year received a life sentence, with the judge saying the case was one of the most disturbing he’d ever presided over.

Kevin Reek, 48, was convicted by a Ramsey County jury earlier this month for the murder of 79-year-old Myong “Susie” Gossel. On Monday, Ramsey County District Judge George Stephenson sentenced Reek to life in prison, with the possibility of parole in 30 years.

Noting that Gossel seemed to be someone who would lend money without hesitation to others in dire straits, Stephenson said, “You had to take it. You had to beat it out of her.”

He then referenced three pictures that he hadn’t allowed the jury to see: crime scene photos of Gossel’s body, badly bludgeoned in her basement.

“I looked at them. I don’t know if you did. Maybe you should … It’s inhumane,” Stephenson said.

Ramsey County Assistant Attorney Tom Hatch said before the sentencing, “One of the things that stays with me was the condition of the house.”

Imagining Gossel’s family wading through the aftermath of the killing, he added, “They had to go through every room, filled with rage, and confront that.”

Before his sentencing, Reek — still adamant that he was innocent — turned to address the family, saying, “I’m sorry for all the pain and suffering everyone’s going through … I hope to God you can all find peace.”

Stephenson then told a story of how a friend of his had been convicted of murder, years ago, and later dedicated his life to helping others from behind bars.

“You can’t get there until you admit to yourself and admit to the world what you’ve done,” the judge said.

Before sentencing, Stephenson asked whether prosecutors looked into the potential for life without parole for Reek, given has past conviction for aggravated assault in Tennessee. Hatch told the judge he was declining to pursue that option.

“To accomplish this, the defendant’s conviction (in Tennessee) would have to match all of the elements of an assault in the first degree in Minnesota. It did not, and therefore we were unable to argue for the more severe sentence,” a spokesman for the attorney’s office said.

Gossel was found by neighbors partially clothed in the basement of her home in the 2300 block of Nokomis Avenue on Jan. 4, 2017. Authorities estimated she was struck in the head at least 45 times.

On Oct. 1, a jury convicted Reek of first- and second-degree murder in Gossel’s death despite his attorney’s attempt to convince jurors that the state’s case was built on contaminated DNA and unreliable witnesses.

The state’s case hinged on Reek’s DNA being found at the scene, including on Gossel’s refrigerator, on the wall of the stairwell going down to her basement, and on her sweatshirt.

A second man, Richard Joles, pleaded guilty this month to robbing Gossel the same night. Facing aiding and abetting murder charges, he pleaded to a single count of aiding and abetting aggravated robbery, with the understanding he would be given 10 years in prison when he returns for sentencing in mid-December.

Joles, 31, had done odd jobs for Gossel, and said he’d stolen $20,000 from her weeks before her death.

During his plea hearing, Joles said Reek was high on meth the night of Gossel’s death, and — after Joles and another man, Perrin Cooper Jr., 33, robbed her of $350 — went back to get additional money on his own.

Prosecutors argued Reek was enraged that he’d been cut out of the money.

Cooper agreed to cooperate with authorities and testify at Reek’s trial in exchange for his charges being dropped to simple robbery, to which he pleaded guilty.

Gossel and her husband, who were married for 37 years, owned their home on Nokomis near Geranium Avenue since 1974. She lived alone since he died in 2011.

Family friends testified before the sentencing that the case had changed their lives, with one saying her elderly mother — a friend of Gossel’s — was scared to be in her own home alone following the brutal killing.

A nephew of Gossel’s husband also told the judge of his uncle, “This was his worst nightmare.”