ST. CHARLES, Mo. (NewsNation) — The “Package” serial killer terrorized the St. Louis area 32 years ago, and now, Gary Muehlberg has been identified as the culprit.

Detective Sgt. Jodi Weber made it her mission to find the killer and spent 14 years on the case.

“It was amazing. I had waited 14 years. Not nearly as long as the families have waited, but I could not wait to confront him. The moment he walked through that door, I knew I had him. With the DNA, he couldn’t deny anything,” Weber said during a Thursday appearance on NewsNation’s “Banfield.”

On Monday, Muehlberg pleaded guilty to the murder of 21-year-old Sandy Little and was sentenced to life in prison. He was already 28 years into a life sentence at Potosi Correctional Center for the 1993 killing of Kenneth Atchison, of St. Louis County. Prosecutors said he killed Atchison for $6,000 and put his body in a plywood box in Muehlberg’s Bel-Ridge basement.

The name “Package” comes from the packaging in which Muehlberg’s victims were sometimes found. In 1990 alone, four women were found dead in makeshift containers. One was concealed in a wooden box, and two were stuffed into garbage cans. Another was bound between two mattresses.

Barbara Studt and Geneva Valle, Little’s sisters, weren’t aware that Weber was still actively working on the case.  

“When we got the call in August to come into the O’Fallon Police Department and they told us that they had identified who had murdered my sister, it was a mixture of relief and also intense anger. It’s trying to reconcile that someone could do the things that this man did,” Studt said. 

When Studt and Valle gave their impact statements in the courtroom, Muehlberg was on video. 

“We weren’t able to really look him in the eye because we’re looking into a camera. … It had a little less impact,” Studt said.

Valle said the sentencing was a relief, but she hates that he won’t get more punishment.

“It’s been a very emotional few months since we found out who it was. It’s been very hard on me. It’s brought up a lot of memories, a lot of things I think I’ve blocked out that I didn’t realize were gonna all come flooding back to me. It’s not been an easy battle for me,” Valle said.

The sisters thanked Weber for her commitment to solving the case.

“It lifted a weight off of my heart. I really felt like this case had been pushed into neverland because they had nothing to go by. I honestly didn’t’ think we would ever find out who actually murdered these women,” Studt said.