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Justice Finally Served In 1996 Murder Of Aurora Woman

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - A case of justice that was delayed has finally served after a Colorado man was found guilty of killing his wife by burying her alive.

Kimmy Greene-Medina and Michael Medina lived in Aurora. Their troubled marriage ended after three years in 1996. On Friday a judge sentenced Michael Medina to life in prison without parole.

Kimmy Greene-Medina's father, John Greene, said when Michael Medina filed a missing person report about his wife, he claimed Kimmy Greene-Medina left their Aurora apartment on her own wearing a heart-shaped ring, but years later he gave that very same ring to his second wife.

Kimmy Greene-Medina was a 19-year-old mother of two little girls. She never had the chance to see Neeka and Marissa as they are now.

"The weight was off my shoulders; the years and years or restless nights, it was done," John Greene said.

The big break in the case came in 2005 through Michael Medina's confession about killing Kimmy Greene-Medina to his second wife, Becky Garel, who didn't believe him at first.

"At first, no, I thought it was a tactic of his to try and scare me, but then I soon realized yeah, he did," Garel said.

When she went to the police she says he followed through on a threat to kill their 16-month-old son, Degan. Degan's body was reportedly found near a wastewater treatment plant in Monte Vista.

Greene says Michael Medina confessed a second time to an inmate, and details about Kimmy Greene-Medina's murder clinched a guilty verdict.

Michael Medina also had a history of hitting his two wives.

"You can leave and you probably should before it gets too late," Garel said.

Nobody knows where Kimmy Greene-Medina's body is and Michael Medina isn't talking.

"Even though I haven't found Kimmy's remains, it's okay," Greene said. "We have been waiting so long for this day and this day is for Kimmy."

Her daughters led a final farewell with a balloon launch.

Greene has been a tireless fighter for justice for his daughter. Even as the trial began he went looking for his daughter's body at Cherry Creek State Park, hoping if he dug up her remains the judge would hand down a death sentence to Michael Medina.

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