KALKASKA -- Convicted killer David DeJonge lowered his head as the parents and siblings of his victim, Sarah Wilson, described their grief and anger to a crowded courtroom.
A Kalkaska County jury last month convicted DeJonge, 46, of first-degree murder and mutilation of a body in Wilson's May 2008 slaying and dismemberment. Wilson's family sat at the prosecutor's table and addressed the court during his sentencing Friday before Kalkaska Circuit Judge Janet M. Allen.
"Agony is the most fitting word to describe what my family and I have endured in the last 18 months since Mr. DeJonge committed his crime against our beautiful girl," said Wilson's mother, Helene Wilson.
Allen sentenced DeJonge to life in prison without parole, the mandatory sentence for a first-degree murder conviction.
Police found Wilson's torso in a swampy area of Kalkaska County's Oliver Township on May 22, 2008. Her parents reported her missing May 12 after she didn't arrive at their Big Rapids home for a Mother's Day visit.
Wilson, 26, knew DeJonge for several years and lived with him in Bloomfield Township. DeJonge was supposed to drop her off in Big Rapids before continuing to a cabin his family owns in Kalkaska County's Orange Township.
Helene Wilson said the "brutal, sloppy, ruthless" manner of DeJonge's crime made it easy for investigators to build a case against him, and she described him as an "unrepentant, selfish, dishonest and brutal monster."
Some of Wilson's body remains missing, and Helene Wilson tearfully asked DeJonge to disclose what he did with the rest of her remains.
"You need to return Sarah to me; she would want that. She deserves that. We deserve to know where she is," she said.
DeJonge, who maintains his innocence, wept as he addressed the court.
"I am deeply grieved over Sarah's death," he said. "As people tend to forget, I was her best friend ... she was a wonderful, wonderful person, and I loved her very much."
Allen suggested the jury reached the correct verdict.
"My only comment to you, Mr. DeJonge, is that the evidence was overwhelming as to your guilt in this matter," she said.
Wilson's blood was found on a wheelbarrow in his cabin and boots in DeJonge's Bloomfield Township home. He also repeatedly changed his story about when he saw her last, and a fellow jail inmate said DeJonge told him he "chopped up" his girlfriend.
Police never identified a clear motive, though they believe DeJonge may have grown upset with Sarah Wilson's plans to move out of his residence.
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