Family and friends of Paul packed the courtroom and erupted in applause at the end of the hearing.

Paul’s mother, Alice Larrue, said afterward that she takes no solace in the sentencing and will not be satisfied until Middleton is charged with killing her daughter. “That’s all I think about and pray about. I want that murder charge,” she said.

Rock County Sheriff Robert Spoden has said repeatedly that he wished the charges could have been stronger because investigators believe Middleton killed Paul. But they haven’t found proof, mostly because Middleton burned Paul’s body so thoroughly that only tiny bone fragments were found at the fire pit and they have never been conclusively identified as Paul’s, Spoden added. The investigation is ongoing.

Paul had graduated from high school a few months earlier and was planning to become a nurse when she met Middleton on the night of Oct. 27. According to authorities, Paul answered his online ad looking for sex earlier in the day and arranged for Middleton to drive her from Fitchburg to the residence he shared with his girlfriend, who was at work. Middleton said he watched Paul take drugs that night.