Dorchester man admits he killed girlfriend, then dumped her body, weighted down and wrapped in plastic, in the Charles

Shabazz Augustine, 36, pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder for the 2004 death of Julaine Jules of Malden, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

He was immediately sentenced to life in prison, but with parole a possibility after 15 years. Had his first-degree murder case gone to trial, he would have faced life without parole.

According to prosecutors, Augustine learned Jules had gone out with another man. Rather than moving on with his life, he convinced her to visit him one last time at his Dorchester home - where he strangled her, wrapped her body in plastic, tied free weights from a weightlifting set to her body, put her body in her car and drove it to Cambridge, where he dumped her body in the Charles River. He then drove to the Revere/Malden line and set the car on fire - which forced him to take the T home.

It took until 2011 for investigators to compile enough evidence with which to charge Augustine with murder. His trial date was then further pushed back when he challenged the use of location data about his cell phone as a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. Last year, however, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled against him.

In a statement, DA Dan Conley said:

Julaine's family has waited patiently for this day for more than a decade. The impression they made on all of us was visible in the courtroom, where almost every State and Boston police investigator ever assigned to the case was present. Their first victim-witness advocate, now an attorney in private practice, made the trip to sit by their side. They are people of strength, grace, and unshakable faith, and I hope they find some peace in this unequivocal admission of guilt.