The boyfriend of a pregnant Loudoun County woman who went missing in 2011 was sentenced on Tuesday to 12-and-a-half years behind bars for her murder.
Ronald Roldan, 42, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in November of last year in the 2011 disappearance of Bethany Decker. She was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she vanished from their Ashburn apartment.
Roldan was charged with abduction and extradited back to Virginia from North Carolina in 2020.
Before he was sentenced Tuesday, Roldan told Judge Alfred Swersky he had nothing to say, according to WTOP News. He’ll serve 12-and-a-half years of his 40-year sentence as part of the plea agreement between prosecutors and the defense. Once released, Roldan will subject to extradition to his native Bolivia.
Decker’s family described her, in victim impact statements reported by WTOP, as a loving mother to her 1-year-old son and a woman who was looking forward to having another child. She had also allegedly told her family the relationship with Roldan was difficult, and that he had made threats.
During the hearing Tuesday, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Det. Mark Bush recounted information for the first time that Roldan gave about how Decker died, WTOP reported.
A January 29, 2011, conversation between Roldan and Decker in their living room turned violent because Decker asked for an extra shift at the restaurant where she worked, Bush said.
Roldan told Bush he pushed Decker. She tripped and hit her head on a window sill. After checking to see that she wasn’t breathing, he started getting rid of her remains.
Roldan got a Christmas tree disposal bag from the kitchen. He put her body inside, taped it up, and took it out to the apartment complex’s trash compactor. Roldan then put more bags on top of it.
Bush said Roldan told him he didn’t call 911 because he thought authorities wouldn’t believe his story.
Decker’s remains still haven’t been found.
Feature image courtesy stock.adobe.com
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