SANTA ANA, Calif. — An Orange County judge sentenced a woman to life in state prison without the possibility of parole Friday for orchestrating a hit on her husband because she worried his cancer was eating up their nest egg.

Jurors in Superior Court Judge James Stotler’s courtroom in December found Sandra Jessee, 60, formerly of Placentia, Calif., guilty of one felony count of special-circumstances murder for financial gain and one count of conspiracy in the Aug. 13, 1998 killing.

Prosecutors said she had Jack Jessee, who was battling colon cancer, murdered so she could save money by not paying for his cancer treatments and to profit from his insurance and 401(k) death benefits.

Jack Jessee’s daughter, Cheryl Deanda, found the 56-year-old engineer fatally stabbed at his Placentia home.