TROY – Debra Napoli Oquendo long believed her violent ex-husband Johnny was responsible for the murder of her daughter Noel, who was strangled to death and found in a suitcase tossed in the Hudson River two years ago.

On Friday, a Rensselaer County jury agreed with her – quickly.

A jury of eight men and four woman deliberated less than three hours over two days before convicting Johnny Oquendo, 41, of killing his stepdaughter, Noel Alkaramla, 21.

The victim's grieving mother anxiously waited for the verdict beside District Attorney Joel Abelove. She cried tears of joy upon the hearing the foreman of the jury read the words "guilty" three times to all charges: second-degree murder, criminal obstruction of breathing and concealment of a human corpse.

"I will always have a hole in my heart because nothing can ever give me back my daughter, but she lives in my heart forever," the mother told reporters outside court. "He's a monster. He knows he did it. He deserves everything that is sentenced for him."

On Nov. 22, 2015, Oquendo used a supermarket shopping bag to fatally choke the 5-foot-1-inch, 135-pound woman. He stuffed her remains into a suitcase, dragged it to the Hudson River and tossed it in the water, where it was found Dec. 30 near the World War II ship, the USS Slater, in Albany, prosecutors said.

"This is what he left me," Alkaramla's mother said, holding a golden urn which contained her daughter's ashes. A Bible was nearby.

Her voice shaking, she said: "I'll never hold my child. I'll never be a grandmother. There's no time that can fill the empty space that he's left me in my heart."

She revealed Thursday had been the birthday of the defendant, whom she referred to as "Satan."

Oquendo, a convicted sex offender, faces 25 years to life at his sentencing Dec. 21 by state Supreme Court Justice Andrew Ceresia.

Alkaramla's mother was unable to attend the trial until testimony ended Thursday because Oquendo's defense team had threatened to call her as a witness, which meant she could not enter the courtroom before taking the stand. She was never called.

The verdict ends a macabre two-year odyssey that culminated in an emotional – and at times bizarre – trial in Rensselaer County Court over the last three weeks.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Botts successfully proved a case that was weakened by pretrial rulings that kept prosecutors from being able to use Google location technology to show jurors where Oquendo was at key points of the night.

According to Botts, on Nov. 22, 2015, Alkaramla ended her shift at Verdile's restaurant in Lansingburgh. A friend dropped her off near Oquendo's third-floor apartment at 170 Third St.

About 11 p.m., downstairs neighbors heard a woman scream and a thud. The suitcase careened down the stairs and struck the neighbors' apartment door. Oquendo, acting suspicious, placed himself between the luggage and the neighbors. He then left the building and headed into the Troy night with the suitcase.

About 11:25 p.m., surveillance cameras caught images of a man wearing carrying a suitcase in the direction of the Hudson River. Some 15 minutes later, what appeared to be the same man is seen walking back – no suitcase.

In his closing statement, Botts froze the camera footage so jurors could see the person with the suitcase. Botts suggested the person even resembled Oquendo down to his distinctive chin.

Oquendo's ex-girlfriend, Amanda Whitman, testified that Oquendo owned the suitcase. Her testimony became a mini-trial of itself when Oquendo's attorney, Assistant Public Defender William Roberts, revealed Whitman had allegedly videotaped herself having a sexual encounter with a dog, believed she could communicate with the dead and had documented mental health issues that included hallucinations and homicidal thoughts.

Roberts, who had slammed the prosecution's case as a "story" built on emotion and lacking evidence, told reporters after the verdict he planned to appeal.

Asked about the quick verdict, he said: "I think it's hard to look past that there's a young life that is no longer with us and the circumstances of what the facts bore out, obviously, were instrumental in the jury's decision."

Jurors did not ask to review any testimony or have any other questions.

"It was a circumstantial case but it was a strong circumstantial case, borne out by the fact that the jury was only out for 2½ hours or so," Abelove said.

Abelove praised the work of Botts, who at times during the trial was admonished by the judge for delays.

Abelove explained that two decades ago, he successfully prosecuted Oquendo in a first-degree robbery case.

"I'm glad he's going to be spending the rest of his life in state prison," Abelove told reporters. "I'm very happy for Noel's mom. I know how relieved she is. I know how much anxiety this whole process has caused her. We're going on almost two years since Noel was murdered and it's a very long process for anybody to go through, much less the mother of a poor young woman whose life was taken from her so needlessly, so wantonly, so cruelly. and we're just very, very relieved and want to thank the jury."