LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska man has been convicted of first-degree murder for the 2011 stabbing death of his girlfriend in their home near Sidney.

The office of Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning announced Monday that 48-year-old Craig Johnson was found guilty after a jury trial. Johnson was accused of killing 42-year-old April Smith. Smith was found bound, strangled and beaten to death on her living room floor. An autopsy showed she died from an abdominal stab wound.

Johnson faces a mandatory life sentence for the murder charge. Sentencing is set for Feb. 5 in Cheyenne County District Court.

Johnson also was convicted of one count of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, and one count of possession of a deadly weapon by a felon.