PALM BAY, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida man was sentenced to life in prison after his conviction on charges he murdered his girlfriend, buried her and then dug up her remains to dispose of them again.

After nearly two and a half hours of deliberations, a jury found Daniel Loren Stearns , 35, guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm, abuse of a dead human body, and tampering with evidence in the 2023 killing of his girlfriend, Nancy Howery. A judge sentenced him to a term of imprisonment for his natural life without the possibility of parole.

Daniel Stearns enters a Florida courtroom on the first day of his murder trial. He’s accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend, burning her body and scattering her remains. (Court TV)

Howery, 44, disappeared on Feb. 15, 2023. Investigators

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