Michelle Le Murder Trial: Giselle Esteban found guilty in nursing student's 2011 death

(CBS/AP) OAKLAND, Calif. - A California woman was convicted of first-degree murder Monday in the gruesome death of her former friend, nursing student Michelle Le.

Pictures: Missing Calif. nursing student was murdered, say cops

Giselle Esteban, 28, was found guilty by an Alameda County jury. She attended Mt. Carmel High School with Le in San Diego.

Le, 26, went missing from a Hayward hospital parking lot in May 2011. Police and volunteer searchers discovered her badly decomposed remains in a canyon east of San Francisco Bay months later.

"I hope today's verdict will help the family and friends of Ms. Le to continue the long process toward healing following this tragic and senseless crime," District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Esteban stalked Le and attacked her in the parking garage of the hospital where she was doing a clinical rotation. According to grand jury testimony, Esteban grew increasingly enraged at a friendship between Le and Scott Marasigan, who has a young daughter with Esteban.

Esteban pleaded not guilty. She is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 10.

Complete coverage of Michelle Le on Crimesider