SALEM, Ore. -- A Marion County judge sentenced a man to at least 38 years in prison for the murder of a woman whose body was found burning under a Salem bridge in 2006.

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Suspect Philip Michael Florek as shown in photo from police.

Twenty-seven-year-old Philip Florek was convicted of the murder of June Inez "Candy" Kell.

Judge Don Dickey said Florek's criminal history, his cruelty were factors in the sentence.

Background: Woman's body found aflame

Dickey said the victim owned little beyond a blanket and a smile.

In August of 2006 Florek killed Kell by striking her with a large rock. A passing policeman found her burning body.

Florek was arrested in Massachusetts that November and pleaded guilty to murder, abuse of a corpse and failure to register as a sex offender.

Prosecutors said surveillance cameras at the Salem downtown transit mall helped investigators determine Florek and Kell were together several hours before her death.

They said the two then went to Kell's campsite under the bridge, argued and Florek took a large rock and struck Kell several times. He then burned her body using newspapers and blankets.