18 years for killing hairdresser, disposing of her dismembered body

The court sentenced 57-year-old Bart B. from Soest to 18 years in prison for killing his partner Miranda Zitman in December 2018, sawing her body into pieces and then disposing of the body in multiple places, AD reports.

B. claimed that he did not kill Miranda, but found her dead at the bottom of the stairs at their home in Soest. He could not explain exactly why he did not call police, but told the authorities that he decided to cut Miranda's body into pieces and bury her in the two places where she was the happiest.

Zitman's torso was found in January 2019 in a suitcase along the Zuider IJdijk in Amsterdam. Three months later, more of her body was found in the garden of the home she shared with B., after the man had gone to the police and told them where to look.

B. concealed the fact that Zitman was dead for months. He sent messages to her friends, posing as the woman, saying that she had gone to Canada to start a new life. After her death, B. transferred a total of 116 thousand euros out of Zitman's account and into his account or their shared account, so that he could access the money, was revealed during the trial.

The sentence is two years lower than what the 20 years in prison the Public Prosecutor demanded.