AUBURN – A Canton man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for raping, robbing and killing a pregnant Lewiston woman last year.

Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice Thomas Delahanty II imposed a rare life sentence on Richard Dwyer, 45, of 30 Farrand Hill Road, on Friday afternoon.

Dwyer was led from the courtroom in a blue jail suit, his hands cuffed, his legs shackled, the same way he looked when he was led into the courtroom a year ago and pleaded not guilty.

He maintained his innocence Friday, despite convictions on all counts by a jury that took only an hour and a half to reach its verdicts following a four-day trial.

“I hope one day they’ll catch the people that did commit this crime,” he said.

Donna Paradis, 38, a mother of two, was seven and a half months pregnant with a son whose father was living in Syria awaiting a visa. The couple planned to reunite a week after Paradis was murdered.

She was last seen alive on Oct. 23, 2007, when she left her day job at Affiliated Computer Services on Lisbon Street in Lewiston and went to a local bank to get $400 in cash to buy a car. Her body was discovered by police about three weeks later in a wooded area behind the Promenade Mall across the street from her office.

Paradis was found naked, strips of cloth looped and knotted around her wrists and neck. A pickax, shovel and clothing – including maternity pants smudged with dirt – were found nearby. She had been buried under dirt and large chunks of concrete.

Prosecutors told the jury that Dwyer had set a trap for Paradis after work with the promise of helping her buy a car. He raped and killed her then stole her money to buy the implements he would use to bury her in a 6-inch grave.

Deputy Attorney General William Stokes read portions of a letter in the courtroom penned by Paradis’ husband, Zuhair Adnan Aljundi.

“I am the most harmed of what had happened and that’s not because I lost the woman I loved and married and I wanted to live my life with, but also lost the fruit of our love (my baby who has never had the chance to live.)

“Having been not there at the time of funeral and burying ceremony and not able to put a tiny red rose on her grave or even pray beside her grave causes me severe psychological pains and big suffering,” Aljundi wrote.

Delahanty said several factors elevated Dwyer’s murder conviction to a life sentence, including torture, premeditation and sexual assault.

“There had to be huge amounts of torment, fear and pain,” experienced by Paradis, he said.

Despite an unfortunate childhood, leaving home and an alcoholic father at age 13, Dwyer had plenty of time “to change his ways.”

Delahanty recounted a litany of crimes Dwyer committed since he turned 19 years old, including rape, burglary and bank robbery.

“I find the defendant is beyond any hope for rehabilitation,” Delahanty said. “In the time I’ve been a judge, a life sentence is a very rare thing.” Dwyer’s was only the second life sentence Delahanty had handed down, he said.

He also sentenced Dwyer to a maximum of 30 years in prison for each of the two Class A felonies, gross sexual assault and robbery. He’ll serve that time concurrently.

Members of Paradis’ family spoke during the sentencing, including her mother, daughter, brothers and a sister.

Her oldest daughter, Jeanette Kontos, told Delahanty she wished her mother could see her graduate.

When she learned about her mother’s murder, she “fell asleep at night hoping it was just a bad nightmare. Which it wasn’t.”

Paradis’ sister, Betty Wilson, said she hoped Dwyer would get the special help he needs while in prison.