A Fulton County jury on Monday convicted Michael Harvey in the 1994 rape and strangling of a 39-year-old woman.
The jury convicted Harvey, 49, of murder, aggravated assault and aggravated sodomy in the death of Valerie Payton, whose mutilated body was found among weeds and debris in southeast Atlanta.
He was immediately sentenced to three consecutive life sentences by Superior Court Judge Constance Russell.
Authorities arrested Harvey in 2008 after DNA linked him to Payton, prosecutors said.
Payton had over 50 carvings on her body when she was found, and a photo of her 8-year-old son was placed on her stomach, assistant district attorney Sheila Ross said in opening arguments. Handwritten on the back of the photo were the words, "I'M BACK ATLANTA, MR. X," Ross said.
Harvey's lawyer contended Harvey had sex with Payton, a prostitute, but did not kill her.
The trial began last Wednesday.
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