“Two years after police searched a Buckeye landfill for the body of a Phoenix mother of two, a jury has found her boyfriend guilty of second-degree murder.
Christine Mustafa disappeared in 2017. Her body was never found. And in an unusual — but not unprecedented — move, prosecutors charged Robert Interval Jr. with killing her.”
“During the trial over the past several weeks, prosecutors have painted Interval as a jealous man who feared Mustafa was planning to leave and take their then 8-month-old daughter with her. Defense attorneys emphasized a lack of evidence that Mustafa is even dead, much less who would have killed her.
According to prosecutors, the direct evidence in the case includes mattress covers Interval purchased and text messages he sent to his sister, Gia Fitzpatrick.
"I finally had the perfect plan to end this psychopath," Interval said during a series of texts.
Fitzpatrick told police her brother said he “went too far” after Mustafa started to discuss taking their daughter away from him, according to the prosecution’s opening statement.”
Trial without a body: Phoenix man found guilty in girlfriend's death