MARLBORO COUNTY -- Wednesday afternoon, a jury deliberated for 45 minutes before finding John Hogan guilty of murder in the death of Monesha Brown.

Judge Howard King sentenced Hogan to life in prison.

King told Hogan he probably wouldn't have been in this situation had it not been for his drug addiction.

Prosecutors with the Fourth Circuit Solicitor's Office say Hogan was high on crack cocaine when he stabbed Brown in the throat in June of 2010.

Her family frantically searched for her for 49 days. Police questioned several people in her disappearance but turned up nothing until they got a tip to talk with Hogan.

Officers say Hogan confessed to killing the mother of four.

Hogan's attorney called it involuntary manslaughter, saying Brown stabbed Hogan first and Hogan retaliated.

Prosecutors say he left her body in his bathtub for hours before putting her body in a barrel and driving it to a wooded area near the Blenheim-Brownsville community.

Brown's family shed tears when the judge sentenced Hogan.

They feel like justice has been served.

"A burden has been lifted and our family can move on. We have finally gotten some closure in this whole time, almost 19 months . I'm just so thankful the sentence that the judge gave Mr. Hogan," said Tiffany Smith-Covington.

Hogan apologized to the Brown family saying he would think about what he did every day for the rest of his life. He cried throughout the trial.

Prosecutors say they don't believe Hogan is sorry about killing Brown, rather sorry he got caught.

Brown's family doesn't believe he's remorseful either.

Smith-Covington said, " He knew what he did. He let us search for Monesha for almost six weeks. He got rid of the body and just put her in the woods like she was just some type of animal or something like, but I don't think he was remorseful at all."

When Hogan killed Brown, he was in Marlboro County working on a construction project.