PORTLAND – William Hanaman received a maximum sentence of 40 years today for the brutal murder of his girlfriend Marion Shea in Portland 16 months ago.

Hanaman emotionally apologized to Shea’s family during the sentencing hearing, but Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Thomas D. Warren said that while Hanaman showed remorse, he did not accept full responsibility for the attack during which Shea received 17 serious stab wounds.

Life imprisonment requires certain conditions, including pre-meditation, Warren said, that did not fit the case. Outside of those circumstances, 40 years is the maximum sentence in Maine for murder.

Shea was killed in Hanaman’s Ocean Avenue apartment in November 2009 after Hanaman encountered her on a Portland street. Hanaman was under an order not to contact Shea as one of the terms of his release on bail for a charge of domestic violence from the previous month.

Hanaman was found by police next to Shea’s body, passed out from a drug overdose. He said it was a suicide attempt, but that he doesn’t remember killing Shea.

Shea’s family members at the sentencing hearing said that Hanaman had taken the life of the mother of five and grandmother of three who, despite drug problems, was trying to stay connected to her family.

Hanaman had argued self-defense and his attorney, Robert Levine, said he will appeal based on the judge’s failure to tell the jury they could have reached a finding a manslaughter if they determined that Hanaman had been provoked and acted out of fear or anger.

Warren said he considered a number of mitigating factors, including Hanaman’s abuse during childhood by his mother and foster families. But he said the brutal nature of the crime, including eight serious stab wounds and a number of defensive wounds; prior violent crimes by Hanaman; and the failure to accept responsiblity led to the decision to impose a maximum sentence.

Levine said he considers 40 years “an effective life sentence” because of Hanaman’s age – 53 – and poor health.