( CNN ) -- A Washoe County , Nevada , jury Wednesday sentenced a Nevada pipe fitter to death for the killing of a 19-year-old student in a string of attacks that rattled the university community in Reno two years ago . James Michael Biela , 28 , was convicted last week of first-degree murder and sexual assault in the death of Brianna Denison . He also was convicted of two counts of sexual assault for attacks on two other women and of one count of kidnapping relating to one of those attacks . The jury spent three hours behind closed doors Tuesday night and resumed deliberations Wednesday morning . On Tuesday , Denison 's mother , Bridgette , told them to show no mercy for the man who killed her daughter and sexually assaulted two other college coeds . Denison , a sophomore at Santa Barbara City College in California , was last seen alive on her friend 's couch on January 20 , 2008 . Three weeks later , her body was found in a field near her friend 's home . She had been sexually assaulted and strangled . A pair of panties that did not belong to Denison were found near the body , in what police said was a `` calling card '' that helped them connect Biela not only to Denison but to the other assaults . From the witness stand in Biela 's capital murder trial , one of the women recounted how she was attacked on the University of Nevada-Reno campus . She said her assailant threatened her with a gun , raped her and took her panties as a souvenir . The defense challenged the identification because she earlier told a friend she could not describe her attacker to police . The second woman , a student at the university , testified she was abducted outside her apartment and driven to a dark area and raped in the attacker 's vehicle . The woman testified that her assailant asked for her panties and took them with him . The trial began with emotional testimony from Denison 's mother and her boyfriend , and a video showing her with friends at a diner just a few hours before she was abducted . Denison was visiting friends in her hometown of Reno . After they attended a concert , she slept on the living room couch in a friend 's off-campus apartment . While she slept , someone crept into the apartment and snatched her , police and prosecutors said . Her case triggered a flurry of national media coverage and thousands of tips , including the one that led to Biela 's arrest . Police released a photo of the panties near Denison 's body and a description of the pickup . A friend of Biela 's girlfriend saw the photo of the panties and thought she recognized the truck police described . She told investigators that a friend 's boyfriend had a truck similar to the description and that her friend had seen women 's panties inside it . Detectives immediately followed up on the tip and , with permission from the girlfriend , took DNA samples from Biela 's 4-year-old son . Lab tests showed that the boy 's father -- Biela -- was almost certainly a match for the DNA found on the doorknob and at the crime scene , police said . DNA obtained from the other victim 's rape kit matched Biela 's , according to testimony . Biela 's defense attorneys challenged the DNA testing method , claiming that it was not accurate . CNN 's Emanuella Grinberg contributed to this report .
James Michael Biela was found guilty last week . He was convicted in death of Brianna Denison , assault on two other women . and of attacks on Reno , Nevada , university community . Death sentence came after trial Tuesday night , Wednesday morning .