BY DAVID GRANT LONG

He expressed mild regret, but no remorse.

Christopher Dean Paul, who killed Idaho tourist LaVoyne Parrish near Cortez in September 1998, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday during a hearing at which three of the victim’s children testified, then paid their father a final musical tribute.

"My dad had an amazing love for life and people," Lisa Parrish said through her tears, "and maybe that’s what allowed this man to prey on him — but I wouldn’t have wanted him to be any less trusting and loving.

"The irony of this tragedy is that he was murdered in cold blood by a self-confessed predator," she added, calling Paul "a weak little man who should never see the light of day."

"You took from us the kindest, gentlest man we ever had the privilege of knowing," she said.

After being captured in Oceanside, Calif., three days later, Paul, 36, told police he’d shot the 67-year-old retiree to steal his truck and money, and described where they could find the body.

The diminutive killer — 5-foot-7, 130 pounds — said he’d engaged Parrish in conversation at the Sleeping Ute Rest Stop on Highway 160 and lured him into a nearby stand of trees by offering to show him some Anasazi ruins, according to an investigator’s affidavit.

Instead, Paul related, he fatally shot Parrish, who was on his way to ride the Durango/Silverton Railroad, in the head and chest with a 9mm handgun, then took his wallet and pickup and spent the night in a Cortez motel.

The next day Paul returned to the rest stop, moved Parrish’s body to a more remote location and covered it with a blanket, then drove to California, where he was apprehended by a Highway Patrol officer who was wounded in the process.

Paul was convicted of attempted murder last spring for that shooting and sentenced to 77 years in prison before being extradited to Colorado to face a charge of first-degree murder here. He had previous convictions for burglary, robbery and armed robbery in Arizona as well.

In January, Paul signed an agreement under which he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and accepted a sentence of life without the possibility of parole in return for avoiding the death penalty.

Linda Adams, another of the victim’s daughters, said Thursday she believed God had directed her dad to Paul — "not for your purposes, but because it led to you not being able to hurt another person.

"You took away all our tomorrows," she said. "It is my wish that you have no tomorrows, too. I pray it eats you up inside."

Damron Parrish said although Paul "deserves nothing less than the death penalty," the family would have to accept the life sentence. He also thanked the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney Mike Green for their roles in solving and prosecuting the murder of "the best father — my best friend."

At the family’s request, Green played a recording of "Everything I Own" by Bread, a song from the ’70s that includes the lyric:

"I would give anything I own,

give up my life, my heart, my home

. . . just to have you back again."

The defendant, who asked the court to address the family members after they had spoken, was described by Public Defender Frank Viehmann as an abandoned child who had been raised in an institutionalized setting and "had a very hard young life."

Paul had been diagnosed as having a "psychotic condition" since his imprisonment in California, Viehmann said, and has "a history of hearing voices."

Paul told the Parrish family that he was unable to feel deep sorrow over his deed.

"I could lie to you and tell you a nice story." he said, "but I’m a person without remorse — I wish I could feel remorse.

"That’s why I need to be in prison the rest of my life," he added. "That’s who I am (and) I don’t know how it happened.

"I regret that I killed him. I apologize for bringing you such pain and agony."