NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A New Jersey judge rejected claims of innocence from a nurse who was convicted of killing and dismembering her husband and sentenced her to life Thursday for his death.

"The depravity of this murder simply shocks the conscience of this court," Middlesex Superior Court Judge Frederick De Vesa said as he gave Melanie McGuire the maximum penalty. "One who callously destroys a family to accomplish her own selfish ends must face the most severe consequences that the law can provide." (VIDEO)

McGuire was visibly distraught as she listened to the judge. Her lawyers had asked for the minimum sentence of 30 years for the murder count.

A jury convicted McGuire in April of four counts, including first-degree murder, stemming from the death of William McGuire, a 39-year-old computer analyst who was last seen alive April 28, 2004.

Three weeks after he disappeared, three suitcases containing his dismembered remains washed up on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.

Story continues

McGuire also received 10 years for desecrating human remains, to be served concurrently, and an additional five years on one count of perjury for lying to a family court judge regarding the whereabouts of her husband after his disappearance.

In an agreement among the lawyers, De Vesa merged one count of unlawful possession of a weapon with the murder count.

McGuire will be eligible for parole after serving 85 percent of her sentence, or when she is 100 years old, according to calculations from the state attorney's office.

De Vesa said he gave great weight to the cruel and heinous nature of the crime in determining the sentence, which he delivered after hearing statements from William McGuire's family.

Clutching a tissue behind her back, Laura Ligosh told the judge that her memory of her uncle was marred by the image of his bloated limbs after they were pulled from the Chesapeake Bay.

"She has stolen our smiles, our laughter, our joy," a tearful Ligosh said through sobs. "She has also taken something deeper from all of us — our innocence, our faith in humanity."

During McGuire's seven-week trial earlier this year, prosecutors alleged that the defendant killed her husband so she could start a new life with her boss without enduring a messy divorce.

In the absence of forensic evidence linking McGuire to her husband's body or the murder to their home, prosecutors relied on evidence of the affair and testimony from a forensic expert who said the garbage bags containing the victim's remains were consistent with bags in the couple's home

McGuire declined to speak in her defense, but after the sentencing, her lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said she maintains her innocence.

"She didn't do this, so there was no remorse," Tacopina told Court TV. "There's nothing for her to apologize for. This wasn't the day for her to explain herself."

Tacopina told the judge that he receives e-mails daily in support of his client and submitted 40 letters attesting to her good character as an attentive and caring nurse and friend.

But Assistant State Attorney Patricia Prezioso said McGuire's meticulous nature was what almost enabled her to get away with murder, and urged the judge to hand her the maximum sentence.

"This is a defendant who puts on a face and shows the people before her whatever it is she wants to show," Prezioso said. "I don't know who the real Melanie McGuire is."

Two members of the jury who attended the sentencing declined to speak to the media after the hearing.

Video of the sentencing will be available Friday on Court TV Extra.