Man Sentenced for Manslaughter of Mother of Two

0:00On March 26, a 42-year-old man from Coventry has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the manslaughter of a 33-year-old, mother of two. Muhammad Dernian strangled Riann Koulsen at his flat last May, then hid her body under a mattress, stuffed it in a suitcase, and buried it in nearby. Woods after setting part of it on fire with petrol. During a three-week trial at Warwick Crown Court, jurors cleared Dernian of murder, but convicted him of manslaughter. He had claimed she died from a cocaine overdose and that he panicked. Meanwhile, his friend Adam Moore got six years for helping dispose of the body. Koulsen's family described overwhelming grief in court statements, with her mother calling her a beautiful, caring person whose loss left the lifetime. Of pain, her twin sister spoke of an emptiness, like losing half of herself after public appeals to find her. Investigators pieced together the timeline from neighbors hearing screams that night, in Dernian dodging police by faking a mental health crisis.

1:00Her body turned up five and a half weeks later, in a shallow grave, leading to his arrest. The judge labeled Dernian a dangerous offender at high risk of reoffending, satisfied neck fractures, proved strangulation. He'll serve two-thirds behind bars before release on license, as the family continues to mourn a life-cut short.