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Former Psychologist Sentenced To 6 Years In Prison For 1995 Killing

SANTA ANA (AP) — A former psychology professor has been sentenced to six years in prison for the 1995 killing of a man she says raped her when she was a college student in California.

Norma Patricia Esparza did not speak during her sentencing Friday in Orange County Superior Court.

The 41-year-old pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter nearly two years ago in a deal with prosecutors.

Esparza pointed out Ramirez at a bar in 1995 to her former boyfriend Gianni Van and others who kidnapped and killed him, authorities said. Ramirez's bloodied body was found by the side of a road in Irvine, but the case went cold for years.

Esparza was arrested in 2012 while visiting the United States from France. Born in Mexico, Esparza grew up in California, obtained a doctorate in psychology and worked a consultant for the World Health Organization and as a professor in Switzerland.

Her case drew international attention and stoked an outcry from campus sexual assault victims' advocates, who said Esparzas's arrest sent a chilling message to rape survivors.

Authorities charged four people with the death of Ramirez, who Esparza said raped her after she met him at a bar while she was a Pomona College student.

Esparza pointed out Ramirez at the bar weeks later, prosecutors said. Van and two others followed him in a van and rear-ended him, attacked and kidnapped him, later hacking at his body with a meat cleaver, prosecutors said.

In 2013, Esparza's husband, Jorge Mancillas, told reporters his wife had confided to Van about the rape and Van took matters into his own hands. She was later forced into a sham marriage with Van to prevent her from testifying against him as police began looking into the murder, Mancillas said.

Esparza was arrested after she and Van had divorced. After a jury trial, Van was sentenced last year to life without parole for the murder.

Esparza and co-defendant Diane Tran testified against Van in exchange for their plea deals.

Another defendant, Shannon Gries, pleaded guilty in May to murder during a kidnapping. He is expected to be sentenced to 25 years to life.

At Friday's hearing, Ramirez's relatives are expected to make statements before Judge Gregg L. Prickett.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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