An American man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for persuading his girlfriend to drive him to the desert, where he tied her to a pole and watched her die. PeopleThe incident took place in 2019. On Friday, 44-year-old John Matthew Chapman was convicted of one count of kidnapping that resulted in the death of the woman, identified as 33-year-old Jaime Feden. He was arrested in November 2019, after which he admitted to killing his girlfriend for money.
“The defendant violated the victim’s trust and lured her away from her family and friends in Pennsylvania to the Nevada desert, where he brutally murdered her,” U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson said in a statement. “This sentence should send a clear message to others that kidnapping and murdering another person will result in prison.”
Citing a federal criminal complaint, the outlet reported that the 44-year-old initially told Ms Feden they were driving from Pennsylvania to Nevada to buy a home in Las Vegas in September 2019. While in Nevada, he persuaded Ms Feden to drive to the desert to take part in a “bandage photoshoot”.
Once there, prosecutors said Chapman tied Ms. Feden’s hands and feet to a signpost and then covered her nose and head with duct tape. He watched as Ms. Feden suffocated, and then after she died he removed the tape, zip ties and her clothing and left her body in the desert.
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Prosecutors said Chapman planned to kill Ms Feden before leaving on the trip. Ms Feden’s body was found in the desert in October 2019. After committing the crime, Chapman drove back to Pennsylvania, throwing away Ms Feden’s clothes along the way, according to prosecutors.
In November 2019, Ms. Feden’s friend requested a welfare check. Neighbors told police they had not seen Feden, 33, in months, but they also said they had seen someone they believed to be her boyfriend coming in and out of her home.
Inside the woman’s home, police found Chapman’s ID, Ms. Feden’s cell phone and several rolls of duct tape and zip ties.
After his arrest, prosecutors said Chapman admitted killing Ms Feden for money.
