DENVER -- The startling writings of a self-proclaimed killer were read during his sentencing hearing Friday, where he warned, "If I get out, I will kill again."

The judge weighed that threat and then considered the defendant's guilty plea to second degree murder in the stabbing death of Kay Bodway, before sentencing 42-year-old Michael Muniz to prison for what could be the rest of his life.

Muniz received 84 years -- 48 of them for killing Bodway in 1996.

"He was hunting for victims," said Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey. “Mr. Muniz has a depraved heart and a lack of empathy.”

Muniz followed Bodway home from a Target store at the old Lakeside Mall. He approached and stabbed her in her own garage.

Neighbors across the street heard her scream.

“It was not a normal scream,” said Danielle, “it was probably the most terrifying scream I’ve ever heard.”

“It breaks my heart to think that (Muniz) is the last person my mom saw in her life,” said Bodway’s daughter, Shelley.

Bodway’s murder occurred on the same day as a huge power outage that affected most of the western United States.

That outage knocked out several traffic lights in Colorado and lead to several accidents.

Police initially thought Bodway was the victim of a traffic altercation following that outage.

The murder case remained unsolved for five years until Wheat Ridge police received a late-night phone call on July 15, 2001.

A man on the phone said he had information about the case, and then went on to describe how he had followed Bodway home and stabbed her to death.

The caller told the dispatch operator, "Just to let you know, I'm back." Police traced the call to a Denver hotel room and arrested Muniz, who admitted he made the call.

Muniz had been tried two times for killing Bodway.

The first trial resulted in a hung jury and the second trial ended in a guilty verdict that was overturned on appeal.

A month before he was to go on trial for a third time, Muniz agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder.

He also pled guilty to attempted kidnapping with a deadly weapon for stabbing a 51-year-old woman in Denver.

Caroline Vest was stabbed outside her home near Cherry Creek Shopping Center just one hour before Bodway was killed.

He received 16 years on the kidnapping charge and an additional 20 years for possessing contraband (sharpened weapons) in prison.

In the writings found in his cell, Muniz said he murdered one woman in July 1999 in Denver and one in Wheat Ridge.

One cold case he could be linked to is that of Cindy Stewart. Stewart was stabbed to death in Denver's Observatory Park in July 1999. Her father, James Stewart said police have discussed with him the possibility that she may be one of Muniz's victims.

"She was the only woman murdered in July in that year," he said. But James said investigators can do little until Muniz confesses to them or someone else.

"If he's guilty he's gonna tell somebody, who's gonna tell somebody, who's gonna tell somebody and I don't see any other way for them to get this dude," he said.

Storey said Muniz killed for the thrill of it, but the defendant’s attorney said the reason Michael Muniz wrote the things that he did was because of bluster.

“He was going to prison and you don’t want to go to prison as a patsy. You want to show that you are a tough guy,” the attorney said.

Judge Tamara Russell said, “I don’t know if those (writings) were bragging… or crying out for help.”

She went on to say that she doesn’t judge people, she judges acts.

“There is no more heinous act than murder,” Russell said. “Your acts clearly show me what your intent was. Your intent was to kill.”

When asked what he wanted to say, Muniz answered, “Nothing.”

The judge then sentenced him and told him, “You will likely live in prison for the rest of your life.”