WILBER, NE — The man convicted of killing and dismembering Sydney Loofe is heading to death row.

A three-judge panel sentenced 54-year-old Aubrey Trail to death by lethal injection on Wednesday morning. The panel ruled unanimously, which was necessary in order to impose the death penalty.

Trail was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and improper disposal of human remains in 2019. His girlfriend and co-defendant, Bailey Boswell was convicted in 2020. 

Trail admitted to killing Loofe, a 24-year-old Lincoln store clerk, in 2017 but claimed it was an accident and part of a sex act gone wrong. After searching for Loofe’s body for weeks, investigators found her remains scattered across roadside ditches in rural Clay County. Trail’s trial was one of the most sensational in state history and included an outburst in which Trail shouted, “Bailey is innocent and I curse you all,” before slashing his throat. 

On Wednesday, the panel ruled that the aggravating circumstance of "exceptional depravity" in Trail’s crimes outweighed the mitigating factors. Attorneys presented written arguments to the judges in March. 

Trail read a statement and said he killed Loofe because he had told her about his criminal activities and he knew she would tell people about them. He previously testified that he killed her during a sex act gone wrong.

"I have done some terrible things in my life," Trail said.

Trail said killing Loofe was the only thing in his life that he regrets. He will have the option of appealing the sentence.

Boswell has an aggravation/mitigation hearing set for the end of the month.