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Man gets 32 years for fatal strangling in southern Colorado

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UEBLO, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man who strangled another man to death has been sentenced to 32 years in prison.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports 39-year-old Michael Mills was sentenced Friday for the December death of 63-year-old Sammy Martinez. Mills struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Police called to a Pueblo apartment complex on Christmas Eve found Martinez dead, and investigators used surveillance images and a fingerprint found at the scene to tie Mills to the slaying.

An autopsy determined that Martinez had been strangled and suffered head trauma.

Mills apologized in court and said “not a single day will pass in my life I don’t regret what I did.”