A California man will spend at least 15 years behind barsfor the second-degree murder of a Vancouver Island man three years ago.

Victoria's David Henry Nicholls, 65, was parked on the shoulder of Interstate 5 near Lodi., Calif., reading a map when a speeding BMW plowed into his car on May 2, 2006, sending it into the path of a semi-truck. He died at the scene.

The BMW's driver, Matthew Douglas White, had a blood-alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit when he was weaving through traffic at upwards of 200 km/hr. Two female passengers had pleaded for him to let them out, San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Jeff Traverso said shortly after the crash.

White was found guilty by a jury in April for the second-degree murder of Nicholls. He was sentenced this week to 15 years to life in state prison.

He was originally charged with manslaughter, but the charge was upped to murder during a preliminary hearing. He was also charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs with injury, passing on the right, driving while his licence was suspended and speeding.

He was taken into custody but later released on a $350,000 bail after his blind grandmother put her house up for collateral. The grandmother nearly lost her home after White fled from authorities, prompting a lengthy manhunt by the California Highway Patrol which enlisted the help of the television show America's Most Wanted.

White was captured in September 2007, 45 days into the manhunt, at a relative's apartment in Grant's Pass, Ore.

Before he was sentenced, the 28-year-old wrote a letter to San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Michael Garrigan on Dec. 7, expressing remorse for the actions.

"Everyday [sic] I try to come to grips with about what happened," he wrote. "I think about that day everyday [sic], I try not to dwell on it but I wish I could reverse what had happened. Theirs [sic] not a day that goes by that I don't think about switching my life for his."

White said described himself as a "humble man" who "would like the world — especially Mr. Nicholls's family — to see past my faults and see what good I can be to the world and to our families."

"I am asking for that chance — that chance to make a difference," he wrote. "I ask and plea [sic] with the court to show some leniency so I may get that chance to make a difference and be that positive influence to our youth and so I can be a role model for my son and for others.

"Please don't condemn me for life for my worst and weakest moment. Please give me that chance."

— with files from Canwest News Service