Man Sentenced In Killing of His Girlfriend, Who Disappeared In The South Bay

A man who earlier this month was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, a U.S. Army National Guard reservist who disappeared from an El Segundo hotel, was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison.

The 39-year-old defendant -- who testified in his own defense -- denied that he had anything to do with the woman's disappearance. Her body has still not been found.

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Jurors deliberated about 2 1/2 hours earlier this month before finding Luis Antonio Gomes Akay guilty on April 3 of first-degree murder in the death of Anna Laura Costa Porsborg, 22. The two had traveled from the East Coast for a trip in late December 2022.

On Christmas Eve 2022, Gomes Akay and Porsborg came to Los Angeles from New Jersey and checked into a hotel in El Segundo. The couple visited numerous sites around the Los Angeles area over the next several days.

After going to a bowling alley on Dec. 27, 2022, the couple argued before returning to their hotel. Porsborg was not seen or heard from again. Two days later, Gomes Akay was seen dragging a large suitcase out of the hotel that appeared to be overfilled.

Cell phone and GPS evidence showed that Gomes Akay then drove to the Angeles National Forest, where he remained for about an hour. The defendant then went back to the hotel and reported Porsborg missing.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Sadler imposed the term on Gomes Akay, telling the defendant during Monday's hearing that he "should die in prison,'' that Akay had ``testified falsely at trial,'' and that the jury ``properly rejected'' his story.

In statements read in court on their behalf, Costa Porsborg's parents implored the defendant to tell authorities where he left the woman's body.

During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams told the Los Angeles jury that Gomes Akay had confessed in jail to two undercover informants following his arrest that he had strangled her and told them that law enforcement would never find her body.

The prosecutor said Gomes Akay subsequently spoke to Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives, showed ``zero remorse'' and acted out how he had strangled the woman.

She told the jury that ``he got away'' with it in Brazil, where another woman he had dated disappeared in February 2017 after she broke off the relationship.

``There's no doubt -- none -- that both of these women have been killed,'' Williams said in her closing argument.

Gomes Akay has remained behind bars in lieu of $2 million bail since his arrest.

Meanwhile, searches are continuing for the woman's body.

City News Service contributed to this report.