Serial abuser gets 50 years to life for slaying

An El Sobrante man who had a history of terrorizing his former girlfriend was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison Monday for strangling her and stuffing her body in the trunk of his car.

Scott McAlpin, 28, subjected his girlfriend, 22-year-old Anastasia Melnitchenko of San Francisco, to an abusive relationship before killing her Oct. 22, 2005, authorities said. He had been served with nine restraining orders for beating and threatening her before the slaying.

McAlpin beat and strangled Melnitchenko four days after his most recent release from jail for abusing her and within hours of taking her to eat at a restaurant in Pinole...