WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A Palm Beach County jury has convicted a man accused of killing a Peruvian nanny whose body was found in west Boca Raton more than 10 years ago.
Jerry Wiggins, 38, was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder, kidnapping, sexual battery and attempted sexual battery.
WATCH: Judge sentences Wiggins after murder conviction
Wiggins was on trial in the death of Monica Rivera-Valdizan, 26, whose body was found dumped on the side of a road in January 2004. He was arrested a year later after DNA evidence from a rape investigation in North Carolina linked him to samples taken from Rivera-Valdizan's fingernails.
Attorneys for Wiggins tried to argue that he wasn't competent to stand trial, but a court-appointed psychologist conducted a mental health evaluation last week during the trial and concluded otherwise. Defense attorneys sought to have another psychiatrist perform the evaluation.
Wiggins was previously convicted of raping a 14-year-old Broward County girl in 2003. He is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for that crime.
"The wheels of justice in America turn slowly, but they turn surely," Judge John Kastrenakes said before imposing his sentence.
Wiggins was sentenced to three consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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