LONDON (AP) — The partner of a former actress in the long-running BBC soap opera "EastEnders" has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her and their two children.

A U.K. judge told 49-year-old Arthur Simpson-Kent on Wednesday he must serve a "whole life" term with no chance of parole for killing Sian Blake and her sons, 8-year-old Zachary and 4-year-old Amon.

The victims vanished in December and were found buried in the garden of their home. Autopsies determined they died from head and neck injuries.

Simpson-Kent fled to Ghana after the killings but was arrested and did not fight extradition. He admitted to the slayings in court.

Blake, 43, had been suffering from motor neuron disease and prosecutors said she would have been unable to defend herself from Simpson-Kent's attack.