Man guilty of murder..but where's the body?

According to this article from CNN, Colvin "Butch" Hinton was convicted of the murdering of a 19-year old college student. The Emory College student was killed 11 years ago, but no body was ever found. The jury contemplated the verdict for three days before reaching their verdict solely based on circumstantial evidence. His shady past and reputation for attacking women allowed the jury to reach their verdict. He worked with the college student at the softball field at Emory and was considered a suspect from the day of her disappearance; however, he wasn't charged with her murder until last year.
O.J. Simpson's trials of the 1990's were highly dissimilar to this murder case. His wife and friend of his wife were both murdered in the vicinity of O.J.'s home. All evidence, as opposed to no evidence, pointed to Simpson. The final piece of evidence was a black glove, which didn't fit Simpson's hand; he was then freed of all charges.
Is it due to Hinton's shady past that he was convicted? Some might say yes, but sometimes even if the majority of evidence points to the killer, a guilty man can go free.