SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California man who beat and strangled his ex-girlfriend and mocked the security system she’d installed hours earlier to protect her will spend life in prison without possibility of parole.

Jason Becher of Anaheim was sentenced for murder Friday.

Becher’s defense attorney acknowledged that he killed Marylou Sarkissian in 2016 at her Huntington Beach home when she opened the door to let out her dog. However, the public defender argued the killing wasn’t planned but resulted from rage, and he should be convicted of a lesser charge.