Richard Schmitz, 55, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 2013 manslaughter of his girlfriend, Meshell Will, 38.
Schmitz took a plea deal in January, one day before he was due to go on trial for the death of Will, whose badly decomposed body was found along a road in the Black Hills National Forest.
The judge handed down the maximum sentence, citing Schmitz’s prior convictions for violence against women.
Despite Schmitz’s denial of involvement, circumstantial evidence suggested he killed Will in a motel room and disposed of her body.
The case remained unsolved for eight years until a 2021 pathology report ruled Will’s manner of death as either undetermined or homicide.
Schmitz will serve 10 years in prison, minus the 900 days already served.