Grand Canyon killer gets life

A man convicted of killing a Japanese tourist in the Grand Canyon has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Randy Redtail Wescogame, 20, pleaded guilty in September to murdering Tomomi Hanamure after luring her off a main trail by offering to guide her to scenic waterfalls.

Hanamure, a 34-year-old from Tokyo, was travelling alone when she was killed in May 2006. She was reported missing a day after she went hiking on the remote Havasupai Indian reservation.

Swimmers found Hanamure’s body four days later. She had been stabbed 29 times.

Wescogame was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, robbery and kidnapping, but pleaded guilty only to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.