MANCHESTER - Saying it was the first time in her 18 years on the bench that she saw promise in a murderer, Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Gillian L. Abramson today sentenced Molly B. Martel to 20 to 40 years in state prison - far less than the 30 years to life the state sought for the convicted killer of Manchester mother Stephanie Campbell.

"I think if anybody who can be rehabilitated by a prison sentence, I think it is possibly you," Abramson said, noting she had never said that to a convicted murderer at sentencing before.

"Obviously, you will lose the best years of your life, but you will also lose the possibility to be a mother yourself," the judge told an emotional Martel, 23, during the brief hearing.

Earlier, a tearful Martel stood at the defense table and turned to face Campbell's mother, Bonny Walker, who sat with three other relatives in the front row of the spectator section.

"I would just like to say I'm sorry and I did not intend for any of this to happen," Martel told Walker, who wiped tears from her eyes.

"And, if I could change it, I would," added Martel, dressed in orange jumpsuit her long hair spilling over shoulders.

A jury on Nov. 16 found Martel guilty of two counts of second-degree murder for stabbing Campbell, 27, to death near her 28 Dutton St. apartment on Nov. 2, 2010.

The state recommended Martel be sentenced to 30-years-to-life. A state prosecutor cited Martel's flight from the murder scene and tampering with evidence to make it appear as if Campbell stabbed her as aggravating factors.

Defense attorney Eric Wilson noted Martel has no prior criminal record and had been a victim of childhood sexual abuse and shown remorse.

"It wasn't the time I wanted her to have, but it will do. It's justice for my daughter," Walker said after the hearing.

Walker described Campbell, who had three children, as a "loving, caring mother" who was "very good to her children."