On Wednesday, a Florida judge handed down a life sentence to a man for the horrific murder of a woman he had met through a dating app. The motive behind the crime was her failure to adhere to his “relationship rules.”

Daniel Stearns, aged 35, was found guilty earlier in October, according to a report by WESH.

Authorities apprehended Stearns in March 2023 after he led them to a secluded area in Palm Bay known as “The Compound.” It was there that investigators discovered the remains of 44-year-old Nancy Howery, as detailed by CrimeOnline.

Howery, a mother to two young children, was declared missing on February 18 after she did not arrive to pick her children up from school. Her vehicle was later located abandoned.

According to Stearns’ arrest warrant, he and Howery had been involved in a dispute in the days leading up to her disappearance. The police monitored Stearns’ movements from his home to The Compound, which eventually led to his arrest.

The warrant said that police believe Stearns shot Howery during an argument on February 15, then dismembered her and burned the remains. Howery’s remains were found in at least five locations in the 12-square-mile Compound.

At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, prosecutor Samantha Barrett told the judge that Stearns “was angry at Ms. Howery,” Law& Crime reported.

“He was jealous, because she was seeing other men and that their relationship was not exclusive,” the prosecutor said. “She was not, to quote him, ‘following his relationship rules.’”

Howery’s ex-husband, Todd Howery, also spoke at the hearing.

“What he has done to Nancy was demented and defective,” he said. ” … It wasn’t just a murder, okay? It was a savage slaughter.”

Stearns was sentenced to life in prison for murder and more than 22 years extra for abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.