Prosecutor Malin Niklasson pleaded for life imprisonment for the 56-year-old and said during the final plea in March that it was clear after the investigation that the man strangled the 53-year-old woman with a ribbon.

"There is a lot to show that the suspect has gone from falsehood," she said in court, referring to the man in interrogation at several points changed the version of what happened in the house where the woman was found dead.

However, the district court chose to have the sentence stay at 18 years in prison.

In their judgment, the district court writes that it is beyond reasonable doubt that the 56-year-old murdered the woman. The fact that he, before common acquaintances, previously wrongly claimed that the woman's mental and physical health was failing, indicates that he planned the deed for some time, according to the district court.

Has constantly denied

The woman was found with a rope tied around her neck in a residence in a place outside Karlskrona, the night of July 11 last year. A now 56-year-old man was arrested, who has since been arrested on suspicion of murder.

There are no witnesses to the incident itself - the only person who was at the scene when the death occurred was the 56-year-old man. He has repeatedly claimed that the victim caused the injuries himself and that as soon as he discovered what had happened alerted the police and ambulance.