A judge sentenced a Bridgton man to life in prison for the 1994 murder of Crystal Perry.

Justice Thomas Warren said in Cumberland County Superior Court Thursday that Michael Hutchinson, 32, was guilty of extreme cruelty for his apparently random attack on Perry in her home during which he stabbed her more than 50 times.

Warren also said the there was enough evidence of a sexual assault to justify the life term, which, because Maine has no parole, means imprisonment until death.

Hutchinson was not a suspect in the long unsolved case until 2006 when a DNA sample he submitted to a state database matched unknown DNA collected at the scene.

Hutchinson testified at his trial, and said that he had been at Perry's house for consensual sex when another man burst in and murdered her. On Thursday, Warren said that the jury did not believe Hutchinson's story and neither did he.

Hutchinson plans to appeal both his conviction and his sentence, said his lawyer Robert Andrews.