BOULDER, Colo. -- The man accused of raping and slaying a University of Colorado college student in 1997 won't face the death penalty.

Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy filed a motion Thursday notifying Chilean native Diego Olmos Alcalde that her office wouldn't go that far when he goes on trial in the murder of Susannah Chase.

Alcalde, 39, faces life in prison if convicted of first degree murder. He is also charged with felony murder, first-degree sexual assault and second-degree kidnapping.

No one in Boulder County has ever been sentenced to death.

Chase, 23, was walking home in the early hours of Dec. 21, 1997 and was accosted, beaten with a baseball bat, sexually assaulted and left for dead in an alley. She died the next day.

The case remained open until January when prosecutors said his DNA was linked to a sample found on Chase's body.