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Provo • Damien and Amy Jo Candland were a "mix of oil and water," the prosecutor said.
Amy Jo Candland fought to overcome her hearing impairment and learning disabilities. At times, she worked three jobs. But when her nephew needed a place to live, she opened her door to him.
But in just 10 months living with his aunt at her Provo home, Damien Candland racked up four felony charges in what Utah County Deputy Attorney Julia Thomas called an "escalating pattern of violence."
That escalation ended in February 2010, when the 23-year-old Damien Candland raped and strangled his 45-year-old aunt and then dumped her body beside a trash bin up Hobble Creek Canyon.
On Thursday, 4th District Judge James Taylor sentenced Candland to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the only sentence "short of death" prosecutors said they would have considered.
Thomas called the Amy Jo Candland's death a "cold-blooded" slaying, after which Damien Candland calmly called friends on his phone.
"He was unaffected by his recent actions of assault — murdering and dumping his aunt — as he would be by dumping the trash," Thomas said. "And I think, in his mind, that's what he'd done."
Candland did not speak at the sentencing hearing. Defense attorney Ed Brass called the outcome a "foregone conclusion."
Candland had pleaded guilty to the first-degree felony murder charge earlier this year in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to not seek the death penalty. Later Candland tried to withdraw his plea, but was not allowed to do so.
In the courtroom, Candland's mother, Chris McCain, proclaimed her son's innocence and again asked the judge to allow Candland to go to trial. McCain has long pinned the blame for Amy Jo's death on her brother, Damien's father, Keith Candland.
After the hearing, Damien Candland's half brother, Brock Martin, shouted expletives at Keith Candland. "You're going to f——— hell, Keith," the man yelled, before bailiffs escorted him out.
Prosecutors and police looked closely at Keith Candland, Thomas said.
"There was no piece of evidence — not a single piece — that pointed to anyone other than Damien Candland," she said.
Footprints in the snow near Amy Jo Candland's body matched her nephew's shoes, Thomas said. Damien Candland's DNA was found under the victim's fingernails. And Amy Jo's blood was on Damien Candland's shirt when police arrested him.
Prosecutors also said there was evidence Damien Candland bound his aunt's hands with duct tape and then raped her.
Prosecutors have said Candland, who lived with his aunt, may have killed her because of petty disputes over vacuuming, washing dishes and other household chores.
Keith Candland said he missed his sister's laugh and the jokes she would send to his phone in the night. He also spoke some final words of farewell to both the victim and her killer.
"I didn't get a chance to tell Amy goodbye and I love you. She knew," Keith Candland said. He added: "Goodbye and I love you, my son."