A Dorchester man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole today after a Suffolk Superior Court jury found him guilty of killing 20-year-old Daniel Yakovleff two years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

Jurors convicted STEVEN ODEGARD (D.O.B. 8/5/67) of first-degree murder on the theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. Judge Regina Quinlan imposed the mandatory life sentence about half an hour after the noontime verdict.

“Today’s verdict followed six days of deliberations and four straight weeks of testimony,” Conley said. “We’re never privy to a jury’s though process, but it was obvious they gave the case their full attention from the first day of trial to the moment their verdict was announced.”

Conley hailed the partnership between Boston Police homicide detectives and Suffolk prosecutors throughout the investigation of Yakovleff’s Jan. 17, 2008, homicide and said they “left no stone unturned in their efforts to identify his killer.”

Prior to today’s sentencing, the court heard impact statements from Yakovleff’s family and friends.

“Dan was my baby,” said Peggy Rux, Yakovleff’s mother. “He was precious to us. He had a very promising future and he was cut down in his youthful prime.”

The slain man’s father, Nord Yakovleff, told the court that their family has always been a close and loving one, which made Daniel’s loss that much greater.

“Dan’s friends in Boston have been wonderful in helping us to deal with this,” he said. “Dan trusted someone he shouldn’t have trusted. This was a very painful experience for us. The shock of having this trial brings it all back for us.”

Michelle Jarvis and Trevor Wright, friends of the popular South End hairstylist, also addressed the court.

“I just want to thank Nord and Peg for giving us Dan for the small amount of time we had with him,” Jarvis said.

“We had such a hole in our lives [after he was murdered],” Wright said. “We couldn’t go home without calling our friends to see if they got home alright.”

Conley said he hoped the conviction would ease some of the fear and suspicion that spread in the aftermath of Yakovleff’s gruesome stabbing.

“As his father said today, Daniel did nothing more than trust someone and for that he was brutally murdered,” Conley said. “His murder shook his community and shattered its sense of trust. No verdict can bring Daniel back, but his spirit of togetherness can live on in the hearts of everyone who knew him.”

Prosecutors elicited evidence and testimony from almost four dozen witnesses in the month-long trial, proving that Odegard met Yakovleff at a Tremont Street bar early on the morning of Jan. 17, 2008, and brought him back to Odegard’s Tuttle Street apartment.

At some point that night, Odegard used a foot-long chef’s knife to stab the young man repeatedly before leaving the weapon embedded in his chest. He called police at about 6:00 a.m. and told them that a third man had come home with them and must have committed the murder. Forensic testing of more than 200 pieces of evidence in Odegard’s home developed no indication of a third man in the apartment when Yakovleff was killed.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Lee, deputy chief of Conley’s Homicide Unit, prosecuted the case with senior paralegal Joyce Crosby. Paula Connor was the assigned victim-witness advocate.

“Despite their own anguish, Daniel’s mother and father were a source of stability and inspiration to all of us who pursued justice on his behalf,” Conley said. “On behalf of the entire prosecution team, I hope this resolution provides some sense of satisfaction, however small and however late, that justice has been done.”