The conduct of a 29-year-old man convicted of killing and dismembering his business partner in a marijuana-growing operation was egregious enough to warrant life in prison plus 30 consecutive years, a judge ruled on Friday.

Joshua Williams was sentenced for the murder of Jamil Khan, 24, who disappeared in April 2010.

Williams told police he acted in self-defense when he held Khan while another man beat Khan in the head with a hammer inside Williams’ Makakilo home. He said he and the other man burned Khan’s clothes, sawed up his body and disposed of the remains in a curbside garbage bin. Police never recovered Khan’s remains.

A jury convicted Williams in September 2011.

"The conduct in this case, it was egregious," said Circuit Judge Karen Ahn.

She sentenced him to a life term with the possibility for parole for murder; 20 years for commercial promotion of marijuana; 10 years for arson; five years for one count of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and five years for one count of promoting a dangerous drug, both to run concurrently.

She said she decided to sentence Williams to consecutive terms rather than concurrent terms on the more serious convictions because Williams "is dangerous to the community" and "capable of committing other violent crimes against society."

The Hawaii Paroling Authority will determine what Williams’ minimum sentence will be before he can become eligible for parole.

Deputy Prosecutor Kristine Yoo requested that Williams serve his sentences consecutively as a way to protect the public for as long as possible.

She said there were 217 marijuana plants recovered from Williams’ Makakilo home after a search warrant was served in April 2010, and that the murder happened so that the growing operation could continue.

She said that as Khan was being beaten, he begged his attackers to stop. She also said Williams bleached the bathroom to clean it of evidence.

"The part that is the most calculating is after he takes a person’s life, he can stop and think, ‘How am I going to hide this?’" she said in court. "In this case, evil took the form of the defendant and Jamil was the victim."

Williams apologized to Khan’s family in court and asked for leniency in sentencing. He said Khan was killed by Michael Connolly, and that the killing was in self-defense.

"I wish this never played out the way that it did," he said. "It was never supposed to be like this."

Williams’ lawyer, Myles Breiner, told the judge that Khan talked of becoming a radical jihadist, wanted to go to Pakistan to learn how to kill Americans, and carried around an AK-47, which caused Williams to fear for his life.

In court documents, he said Williams grabbed Khan when he pointed the weapon at Connolly and Connolly battered Khan with the hammer.

A witness in the trial said Williams told him after beating Khan, Williams and Connolly strung him up in the bathroom and Williams sliced his neck. Williams told police he drove Khan’s SUV to a secluded area near Leeward Community College a week after killing Khan and set the SUV on fire.

Connolly was also charged with Khan’s murder.

In court documents, Breiner said Williams’ testimony was the only evidence connecting Connolly to the murder. He said Williams offered to testify against him, but the prosecutors demanded that he drop his chance to appeal and a plea agreement was never reached. The prosecution eventually dropped the charges against Connolly.

Russell Williams, who came from Texas to attend his son’s sentencing, said it looks like his son "got laid on" and the judge didn’t take into consideration that his son was an accomplice.

Khan’s father, Mohammad Khan, said outside the courtroom that he was grateful for the work done by prosecutors.

"We feel half the closure with this because we still know that there is another implicated killer that is on the loose," he said. But he added: "This means a lot to us, to see this very horrible human being, put away hopefully for a very long time."

Williams is appealing the conviction.