Brian Fitch remains defiant at sentencing, says he'll go to heaven

Brian Fitch was sentenced Wednesday morning to life in prison with no possibility of release for the July 30 murder of Mendota Heights Police Officer Scott Patrick. With his voice cracking, Fitch addressed the court at sentencing, maintaining he was not the man who shot and killed the veteran police officer.

A jury found Fitch guilty on all 9 charges, including first-degree murder, after nearly 10 hours of deliberations Monday. The verdict was met with a final courtroom outburst from the convicted cop killer.

"Thanks for your biased, a--, bull---- case," Fitch told the judge. "Every single thing that came up. Every single objection, you overruled. This was such a freaking a-- set up."

At Wednesday's sentencing, a Mendota Heights police officer called Brian Fitch a coward, and said, "Scott Patrick will always be the better man."

Fitch, for his part, maintained his innocence and said that no matter what, "I'm a Christian and whether I'm locked up or whether I'm free, I'm going to die and go to heaven anyway, so people can hate me all they want."

Here's a full transcript of Fitch's remarks:

Fitch's mother 'cries for everyone'

For the first time in the proceedings, Fitch's mother, Alice, was in attendance. Afterward, she said she wants to believe her son, but stressed that she "cries for everyone."

An officer and a father

We also learned a new, heartbreaking detail – that Officer Patrick had stopped to have a picnic lunch with his 18-year-old daughter on July 30. He was shot to death just minutes later during a routine traffic stop in West. St. Paul.

READ THIS NEXT - Jury foreman explains deliberations leading to cop killer's conviction