A former church janitor has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted of killing a priest.

Jose Feliciano didn't deny stabbing the Rev. Edward Hinds to death in the rectory of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Chatham, N.J. in 2009.

Feliciano, who testified during his trial, was unable to persuade a jury he had killed Hinds in a fit of rage over sexual blackmail.

Feliciano, of Easton, was sentenced Friday in state superior court in Morristown.

Feliciano stabbed the priest more than 30 times after Hinds fired him upon discovering Feliciano had an outstanding arrest warrant in Philadelphia from the 1980s for sexually touching a child, prosecutors said.

A jury found him guilty in December of murder and other charges.