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On Tuesday, February 21, Ronald Roldan was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison for the 2011 murder of girlfriend Bethany Anne Decker. He was sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment by Judge Alfred Swersky, who later suspended all but 12-and-a-half years of the sentence.
Trigger warning - This article contains graphic details of a murder. Reader discretion is advised.
The Virginia resident had pleaded guilty to Decker's murder in November 2022 and his sentence is part of a of a guilty plea that includes an admittance to the crime. Decker, who was a 21-year-old George Mason University student at the time of her murder, was reportedly five months pregnant.
According to Fox News, Ronald Roldan admitted to murdering Decker and disposing of her body in a trash compactor during the sentencing hearing on Tuesday. He was initially charged with abduction, which was later upgraded to second-degree murder.
Roldan was also convicted of attacking another woman in North Carolina, who was present at the sentencing hearing on Tuesday.
Ronald Roldan reportedly hid Bethany Decker's body in a Christmas tree trash bag instead of calling 911
In January 2011, former George Mason University student Bethany Decker was reported missing after she was not found in her Loudoun County apartment. Her body was never recovered but Ronald Roldan recently solved the mystery of her disappearance by recounting in court how he brutally killed his then partner.
According to a report from WTOP News, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Detective Mark Bush referred to a recorded interview at the county detention center on January 9 which provided further details on how Decker was killed. In the interview, Roldan explained how he had disposed of her body by placing it into a Christmas tree trash bag and then into a trash compactor.
This was the first time in more than a decade that Decker’s family learned what happened to her body, which was never found. Prosecutors claimed that Roldan never called 911. Additionally, the victim's family members accused the Virginia man of being abusive and "controlling," even allegedly threatening Decker and the rest of the family.
On Tuesday, Bethany Decker's grandmother testified in court that she was at her house the night before she was killed and was supposedly staying because of Ronald Roldan's alleged harassment. However, following a phone call, Decker hurriedly ran out of her grandmother's house. This was the last time the then-21-year-old's grandmother saw her alive. In court, she said:
"I couldn't save her. I want you to save the next girl."
Bethany Decker's mother, Kimberly Nelson, said:
"It was quite tragic for us to go from missing to murdered in just a sentence and in a day."
She recalled the last time she spoke to her daughter, stating:
"The night before Bethany was murdered, she called me and she said, 'Mom, I love you,' is the last thing she told me."
Another victim of Ronald Roldan was also present at the sentencing hearing and shouted profanities at him as he was escorted out in handcuffs.
