Fort Worth — The 31-year-old man accused of killing a Denton college student in 2016 was found guilty of murder Monday and sentenced to life in prison.
A Tarrant County jury also found Charles Bryant guilty of tampering with evidence in the killing and dismemberment of Jacqueline Vandagriff, a 24-year-old student at Texas Woman's University.
The jury gave Bryant a sentence of 20 years in prison for the tampering charge.
The jury deliberated for about two and a half hours Monday morning before reaching the guilty verdicts. They deliberated for about an hour to determine the sentence.
Vandagriff's body was found burned near Lake Grapevine in September 2016.
She had met Bryant at a Denton bar the night she died, according to evidence presented in testimony during the trial, which lasted a week.
Bryant's attorney had argued during the trial that Vandagriff died while having sex with Bryant and that Bryant panicked.
The punishment phase of Bryant's trial began immediately after guilty verdicts were announced Monday morning.
A University of North Texas police officer was testifying about Bryant's previous stalking and trespassing charges involving another woman who was a student at UNT.