Man convicted in death, dismemberment case gets 70 years

ELIZABETH, N.J. – A New Jersey man convicted of killing his girlfriend and scattering her remains in at least two locations has been sentenced to 70 years in prison.

Union County prosecutors say Matthew Ballister III stabbed, hit and intentionally ran over April Wyckoff because he thought she was having an affair. He said he accidentally ran her over during a drug-induced hallucination.

Ballister was convicted earlier of murder, hindering apprehension, desecrating human remains and other counts. The Union Township man also was ordered Monday to spend at least 55 years in prison before being eligible for parole in the October 2013 death of April Wyckoff.

Some of Wyckoff’s remains were recovered in Newark, but the rest of her body was never found. Judge Stuart Peim called the case “particularly vile and barbaric.”