SAN JOSE (AP) -- A San Jose man has been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing his pregnant girlfriend and their two young daughters in 2005.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Jerome Brock on Thursday upheld the death sentence a jury had recommended for Rodrigo Paniagua Jr. after convicting him in June for first-degree murder in the deaths of 26-year-old Leticia Chavez, her 5-month-old fetus and their daughters, 3-year-old AnaLisa and 6-year-old Adrina.

Authorities say Paniagua, thinking Chavez was going to leave him, stabbed his family multiple times as they tried to fight him off and walked outside to smoke a cigarette after he set their bodies on fire.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Braker said that once Paniagua is transferred to the death row at San Quentin Prison, it could take two decades to resolve any likely appeals before he is executed.

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