SALEM, Ore. -- The man who admits he murdered a Salem man, chopped up his body, and tried to feed it to pigs will spend at least the next 30 years in prison.

The judge said he handed out the harshest sentence possible because of the especially heartless and violent murder.

Leonardo Garcia Gonzalez Jr., 23, chopped off Christopher Lampkin's head and legs after shooting him execution-style in April 2006. Later, Gonzalez stuffed the remains of the 23-year old into a duffel bag and asked the son of a McMinnville farmer to feed the contents of the bag to the pigs.

The farmer's son, however, placed the bag inside an empty barrel, where it was found months later by Salem detectives acting on a tip.

Gonzalez was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Judge Dennis Graves said “it was a matter of public safety” and Gonzalez should be incarcerated for as long as possible. The charges against Gonzalez included murder, abuse of a corpse, and assault.

Victim's relatives horrified

Lampkin's friends and relatives called Gonzalez a "terrible person" capable of "inconceivable cruelty, terror and torment."

"It's like they took away his identity when they took away his head," testified Denise Mullins, Lampkin's mother. "They reduced Christopher to something unrecognizable even to his own mother."

Judge Graves expressed concern that Gonzalez would not disclose where the remaining missing body parts were hidden, yet the killer still refused to help investigators.

 Background: Lampkin murder case

Gonzalez and a cousin forced Lampkin to his knees and made him beg for his life in their Salem apartment, Deputy District Attorney Matt Kemmy told the judge.

According to Gonzalez, he became paranoid when he heard a knock at the door. "I become convinced he was scoping out the apartment to rip me off," Gonzalez said during his statement to the judge. "I was really afraid someone was going to rob and shoot me."

They shot Lampkin in the head and then dragged his body to the bathtub, Kemmy said. They used kitchen knives to cut off his head and his legs at the knees. What remained of the body was found at the farm, but the severed head and legs have not been recovered.

Lampkin's mother identified the body by a watch left strapped to the corpse's left arm.

"Were you thrilled when the trigger was pulled?" Lampkin's grandmother, Vickie Lampkin, asked Gonzalez during her statement. "Or did the thrill come when you chopped up his body?"

Gonzalez's cousin, Victor Tovar Gonzalez, has pleaded guilty to assault, hindering prosecution, abuse of a corpse, unlawful use of a weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 12.

The farmer's son was offered immunity in exchange for his cooperation.