© Fox 4 NewsJeffrey Allan Maxwell
A Texas man who tortured his former neighbor while holding her captive nearly two weeks was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.
Jeffrey Allan Maxwell, 59, was sentenced after jurors deliberated about 50 minutes. He will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years.
He was convicted Tuesday of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated sexual assault. He faced a minimum sentence of probation.
After abducting his ex-neighbor last March, he drove 100 miles away to his Corsicana home, 50 miles south of Dallas. Then he whipped and sexually assaulted her on a deer-skinning device. He assaulted her on his bed and kept her chained there during most of the ordeal. She was rescued when authorities went to question him about her disappearance after her house near Weatherford, about 70 miles west of Dallas, burned down.
During closing arguments, Parker County prosecutor Kathleen Catania told jurors that Maxwell previously had not been convicted of a felony and was eligible for probation, but "you don't get a free pass your first go-around." As she walked in front of jurors and held up items seized from his home, she said Maxwell collected locks, restraints, handcuffs, pepper spray, sex toys, whips, gags, pornography with bondage and rape scenes - and women's underwear.