VISTA - A 25-year-old man who broke his Marine girlfriend's neck and left her to drown in a bathtub containing 10 inches of water was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jurors deliberated less than two hours in April before convicting Wardell Nelson Joiner of murder and a special circumstance allegation of torture in the Feb. 11, 2004, killing of Lance Cpl. Vanessa Messner, who was a radio operator during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Before pronouncing the former Marine's sentence, Judge Marguerite Wagner denied defense motions for a new trial and dismissal of the torture finding.

"I believe there was sufficient evidence for the jury to reach (the torture) finding," the judge said. "We don't know how much pain Ms. Messner felt. We do know that, for some reason, Mr. Joiner broke her neck and then put her in the bathtub."

The defendant then went to a bar and flirted with a waitress before fabricating a cover story, the judge noted.

The body of the 19-year-old Oklahoma native was found in her Oceanside apartment by a sheriff's deputy a day later.

Prosecutor Geoffrey Allard played a videotape of Messner's family members thanking his office and the court for delivering justice.

Rose Messner apologized for being unable to attend the sentencing of her daughter's killer because "our hearts are so broken."

"It's been very devastating to the family," one of her grandfathers said.

The victim's friends testified that Messner was trying to get out of her relationship with the defendant around the time she was killed.

Joiner was possessive and didn't like her going dancing without him while wearing revealing clothes — even going as far as following them one time while wielding a baseball bat, the witnesses said.

The couple met at Camp Pendleton and became an item in Iraq, when the defendant was still on active duty.