Vincent Tabak has been found guilty of murdering architect Joanna Yeates.
The Dutch engineer had previously said it was not intentional and he had misread signals from Yeates, thinking she wanted to kiss him. He admitted strangling Yeates - in order to "stop her screaming".
It has since emerged police officers found pornographic images on Tabak's laptop. They depicted violent sex footage of men strangling women and bondage scenes which included women being bundled into car boots. Police believe Tabak watched the sex videos before he committed the murder.
Tabak also reportedly paid for sex with a prostitute in the United States before he murdered Yeates but the evidence was ruled to be inadmissable by the judge. Tabak's phone was also found to have made calls to escort agencies while on business trips.
The judge, Mr Justice Field, has said there was a sexual element in the crime - which is what the prosecution had been arguing but Tabak had denied.
The 25-year-old blonde architect was strangled to death by Tabak on 17 December. Her frozen body was found on a country lane on Christmas Day by dog-walkers covered in snow. Her top had been pulled up to expose part of her breast. The presiding judge said Yeates died in "pain and fear" and her family had been put through seven days of "agonising" waiting.
After his callous murder of Yeates, Tabak bundled her body into the boot of his car and drove to Asda to buy crisps and beer. Immediately after strangling Yeates, he texted his girlfriend saying he was "bored." When the evidence emerged in the courtroom, even Tabak's barrister described the 33-year-old's actions as "disgusting and horrendous".
At one point in the trial, Tabak broke down in tears as he gave evidence, even telling the court "I still can't believe I did that".
The court heard how Tabak had deliberately placed himself in the view of CCTV cameras and had driven his car around Bristol so he could provide an alibi for the evening of Yeates' murder.
Tabak started researching how long bodies took to decompose and the difference between murder and manslaughter after Yeates was reported missing by her boyfriend Greg Reardon. As Yeates' parents were issuing desperate pleas for their daughter to return home safely, Tabak was on holiday in Holland where he spent New Year with his family.
When police flew out to Amsterdam to take a routine DNA sample from Tabak, he reportedly became "agitated".
News of Tabak's arrest was greeted with shock in his homeland. A former neighbour of the Dutchman described him as "shy" and said "he wouldn't do that".
Tabak had always insisted Yeates's death was not intentional. The Dutchman had previously tried to incriminate landlord Chris Jefferies, who was taken in for questioning by police but later released without charge. The allegations which were printed about Jefferies later lead to a successful defamation case, as well as a contempt suit headed by the Attorney General Dominic Grieve.
The jury retired to reach a verdict on Wednesday lunchtime. When they reconvened on Friday lunchtime and still had not reached a unanimous verdict, they were told by the judge he would accept a majority verdict of 10 to 2.
As the verdict was read out, Tabak bit his lip and closed his eyes. The judge described the murder of Yeates as a "dreadful, evil act". Tabak did not even know his victim's name.
Tabak's family travelled from Holland to attend the trial but Yeates's parents were not present.
A statement was read out by police on behalf of Yeates' parents, David and Teresa, after the jury announced their guilty verdict:
"We attended the trial to find out as much as we could about what happened. The days of the trial have been more stressful and intense than we could ever had imagined. There was never any doubt in our minds Jo had been murdered. We fully expected Tabak to lie in the witness box.
We needed to hear what he had to say first hand and saw no emotion, remorse or regret. All we heard were words of self-pity.
For us, it is a regret that capital punishment is not an option. We hope his life is a living hell.
We have still lost our daughter. Our main sorrow is Jo is not allowed to start her own family. We will never get over our loss and the total lack of respect with which her body was treated. We so miss her happy voice."
The described the tributes they received about Yeates as "touching to the core" and thanked the media for not "pestering them".
Ann Reddrop, head of Bristol's Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Vincent Tabak was a cunning, dishonest and manipulative man. He made very selective admissions surrounding the circumstances of Jo's death to cast her in an unfavourable light.
"Our thoughts are with Jo's family and her partner Greg."
She added the evidence found on Tabak's laptop could well have assisted in proving a motive but refused to comment any further.
Reddrop called Avon and Somerset Police's investigation into Yeates' death "painstaking".
DCI Phil Jones, from Avon and Somerset Police, lead the investigation into Yeates' disappearance.
"Tabak constructed a cunning plan to cover his tracks. He watched this murder investigation unfold and scrutinised the internet from home and at work.
"From the first day Jo went missing, her family have suffered. Tabak carried on as normal, convincing others he had little or no knowledge about Jo's disappearance and death."
Jones, who was visibly distressed as he read out his statement, called the outcome ''positive".
The jury found Tabak guilty by a majority of 10 to 2. The Dutchman has been handed a life sentence by the judge at Bristol Crown Court and will serve a minimum of 20 years before he is even considered for parole.