FARGO (AP) - Dennis Gaede insisted he was innocent but a judge said Gaede's history of lying "borders on the pathological" and sentenced him to life in prison without parole for the dismemberment slaying of a Wisconsin man.

Gaede, 42, was convicted in April of murder in the death of Timothy Wicks, 48, of Hales Corners, Wis. Wicks' decapitated body was found near the Michigan-Wisconsin border in January 2002.

"This was a case of premeditated murder as cold, as calculated, as one will find," Judge Steven McCullough said before sentencing Gaede on Thursday.

The judge said Gaede's history of lies and his conduct throughout the Wicks case show that he would commit more crimes if ever released from prison.

Steve Mottinger, Gaede's attorney, said an appeal of the verdict would be filed later Thursday. Mottinger had recommended a 30-year sentence.

Gaede read a statement during the hearing, blaming the killing on his ex-wife, Diana Fruge, the prosecution's star witness. He called her a "demon."

Cass County state's attorney Birch Burdick recommended the maximum of life in prison without parole for Class AA felony murder.

"I think that Dennis Gaede is a liar, and he's shown that time and time again. He's made a life out of living a lie and spinning that lie to everyone around him," Burdick said.

Prosecutors said Gaede killed Wicks at a house in Gardner, north of Fargo, because Wicks discovered Gaede had stolen his identity. They said Gaede talked Wicks into coming there with the promise of a job in Winnipeg.