College student Zuzu Verk's boyfriend gets life for her murder

The man who killed a college student from North Texas and then buried her body was sentenced to life in prison.

A Central Texas jury convicted Robert Fabian for the murder of his girlfriend, Zuzu Verk.

The trial was moved to Caldwell County, southwest of Austin, after a judge ruled Fabian could not get a fair trial in West Texas, where the murder happened.

Verk graduated from Timber Creek High School in the Keller Independent School District. She was attending Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas when she disappeared in October of 2016.

Fabian told police he got into a heated argument with Verk the night before she disappeared. He said she left his apartment around 2 a.m., but neighbors reported hearing arguing and loud noises hours later.

Verk’s body was found wrapped in plastic sheets and buried in a shallow grave just outside of Alpine five months later.

Fabian’s friend Chris Estrada was also arrested in the case. Cellphone and credit card records linked him to the purchase of three plastic painters’ drop cloths. The records also near a commercial dumpster in the hours after Verk’s death.

Estrada pleaded no contest to tampering with evidence and will be sentenced soon now that Fabian’s trial ended.