Jackie Reed was sentenced Thursday to a 15-year unified sentence, with a mandatory seven years in prison, on a voluntary manslaughter charge.

The 51-year-old woman - who shot and killed her husband, Gregory Reed Sr., in 2012 and left his body to rot for more than a year in their bedroom at their Osburn home - was taken in handcuffs by police from the Shoshone County Courthouse in Wallace around 3 p.m. Thursday.

The delivery of the sentence ended what First Judicial District Court Judge Fred M. Gibler called the longest sentencing hearing he has had in 14 years.

"I never intended to hurt anybody, and I know I had to defend my life that night," Reed said in court.

The judge also ordered Reed to pay restitution of more than $26,000 to the Social Security Administration and more than $13,000 to the Idaho State Industrial Fund for money she continued to access in Greg Reed's name during the 15-month period between his death and the time his body was found in July 2013. During that time, she told people her husband had moved to Seattle and returned to visit monthly.

"The sentence is not likely to be satisfactory to either family. But hopefully it will provide some closure and confidence in the judicial system," Gibler said moments before delivering the punishment.

Originally charged with first-degree murder, Reed avoided trial after she pleaded guilty in January to voluntary manslaughter. The judge's sentence essentially split the difference between what the prosecution and defense sought Thursday.

Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Keisha Oxendine requested a 15-year fixed prison sentence, "one year for every month Greg Reed rotted in the back of that trailer before he was found," she said.

The prosecutor contended that Jackie Reed shot her husband in the back while he was lying naked in bed.

"You can't take the law into your own hands and not face the consequences," Oxendine said.

Defense attorney Anne Taylor asked for a suspended sentence with probation and characterized her client as an abused wife who was defending herself on the night of the killing in early May 2012 and was afraid to contact police because of negative past experiences with law enforcement.

"Had she called 911, I don't think we would be here, but she didn't and here we are," Taylor said.

Multiple witnesses testified that they remembered Jackie Reed lost two teeth near the time her husband first disappeared, and Taylor said it was a result of a violent altercation the couple had the night of Greg Reed's death. Witnesses also testified about Greg Reed's reputation of violence and abuse of past wives.

Jackie Reed's defense was that she suffered from a history of abuse by her husband, and the night of his death he came home drunk and started a fight, choking and hitting her. Taylor said Greg Reed eventually drew a 9mm handgun, dropped it during a struggle, and Jackie Reed picked it up and shot him before he could hit her with a small baseball bat. Taylor claimed Greg Reed then fell onto the bed, where he died with the baseball bat at his side.

"When you kill somebody and it's self-defense, you call," said the victim's sister, Mitzi Reed Scheel, to Jackie Reed.

"I would go to Osburn weekly just to see if I could see my brother down there. I really want to forgive you, but it's going to be a long time," Scheel added.

Greg Reed's brother, Frank Reed, remembered him as a "young boy with a great smile," who grew up poor in a "mining camp" as one of 11 children.

"Two weeks before finding our brother's body, you waved to me and my wife as if nothing had happened," he said to Jackie Reed.

Greg Reed Jr. said in court that he appreciates the effort made by Oxendine and said his father had raised him and "was always there."

"I spoke with Jackie numerous times and she told me he was in Seattle," he said.

Greg Reed Jr. said one of the reasons people were not more suspicious was because his father had left for periods of time in the past. He also added that he was so bothered by his father's death and rumors that ensued afterward that he walked away from a salaried position at a mine and left the area for some time.

Greg Reed's body was found in July 2013 after SSA Special Agent Matt Lavelle launched an investigation into Reed's whereabouts. Lavelle testified Thursday that Jackie Reed told him during an interview at the Osburn Police Station that Greg Reed was in Seattle. Lavelle said during the interview Reed's story changed, as did her demeanor when he told her the had a warrant to search the home at 1722 W. Yellowstone. Lavelle said Reed then admitted to killing her husband.

Lavelle said Greg Reed's financial records show Jackie Reed and an acquaintance took a trip to Quinn's Hot Springs near Paradise, Mont. Shoshone County Deputy Prosecutor Blaine Harrocks said Reed and the man she met five months after she killed her husband ate prime rib, ordered 13 drinks between them, and stayed the night at the resort.

Lavelle also testified that Jackie Reed sent flowers to herself where she worked at the Osburn Club on her birthday in February of 2013. She told acquaintances the flowers were from her husband.

Retired Idaho State Police Detective Charles Greear, who was the lead investigator at the crime scene, showed graphic evidence photos of Greg Reed's remains and said the 300-pound man's body weighed 53 pounds when it was found. Greear described the home as "filthy" with hundreds of thousands of fly pupae in the bedroom and cans of insect fogger in the hallway.

Jackie Reed's two sons, Chris and Anthony Heidt, testified that she was an involved mother during their childhood. Chris Heidt said he remembered how much his mother worried about them growing up, especially during the holidays. Anthony Heidt said his mother worked hard to keep food in their bellies. He said he had concerns about Greg Reed hurting his mother and tried to intervene a couple of times.

Jackie Reed's younger sister, Ellen Pahl, detailed the struggles the two endured early in life. Abandoned by their mother when they were 1 and 3 years old, the two girls lost their father in the Sunshine Mine Disaster in 1972, when they were in first and third grade. Pahl testified that they eventually lived in an abusive situation with relatives as young adolescents, and Taylor later argued that was where Jackie Reed learned not to put her trust in the authorities.

Gibler mentioned Jackie Reed's deceit to be a problem despite her having "no significant prior record."

"Mr. Reed made all of the choices that night until she chose not to call 911. This is a self-defense case. The problem is not reporting. It's been 14 months of hell for her not knowing how to get herself out of that situation," Taylor said.

"Jackie's version always changes and reads like a dramatic version of a fiction novel," Oxendine said.

Although the prosecutor did not rule out the possibility of a domestic dispute occurring that night, she said, "Jackie shot Greg while he was lying there naked, then shut the door and never looked back."