25 Years to Life in Prison for NYC Dancer Slay

NEW YORK (AP) -- Personal trainer Paul Cortez was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Friday for the brutal murder of Catherine Woods, a dancer and aspiring actress from Ohio.

"He is a murderer, deserving nothing less than life in prison,'' said the victim's father, Jon Woods, director of the Ohio State University marching band, before State Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman pronounced the maximum sentence.

A jury had found that Cortez, 26, slashed the throat of Woods, 21, his ex-girlfriend, in her apartment on Nov. 27, 2005.

Woods, a classically trained dancer, had moved to Manhattan from Columbus, Ohio, hoping to make it on Broadway. Instead, she wound up working in topless bars to cover her living expenses.

During closing arguments, prosecutor Peter Casolaro had cited the key piece of evidence: Cortez's bloody fingerprint.

"The evidence, which consisted primarily of the fingerprint, established to the satisfaction of a jury that Mr. Cortez was guilty of the crime here,'' the judge said at sentencing.

Cortez's diaries, which detailed his tortured feelings over the victim's refusal to love him, also were introduced at the trial.

Cortez, his long hair shorn into a military-style buzz cut, did not speak at the sentencing.

His trial lawyer, Dawn Florio, said: "He would like the family to know he did not kill Catherine Woods and he is very sorry for their loss.''

Nathan Dershowitz, who has been hired as Cortez's appeals lawyer, said he would file the appeal next week. He would not discuss the grounds.

(TM & � 2007 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO & EYE Logo TM & � 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )