Background: Daniel Stearns in court on Dec. 4 for his sentencing (Law&Crime). Inset: Nancy Howery (Broward County Sheriff's Office).
A Florida man who murdered a woman he met on a dating app and then burned her dismembered remains will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Daniel Stearns, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder, abuse of a dead human body, and tampering with evidence after his trial concluded in October. The guilty verdict came more than two years after he was charged with killing 44-year-old Nancy Howery, a mother of two children. As Law&Crime previously reported, Howery was reported missing on Feb. 18, 2023, by her ex-husband after she failed to pick up their children from school.
Howery was last seen alive on Feb. 15, 2023, and had told a friend that she planned to meet with Stearns that day in Palm Bay.
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The Broward County Sheriff's Office began following Stearns, who led them to a wooded area known as the Compound. In a press release, authorities said, "While in the area, Stearns was observed attempting to dispose of evidence. He was then detained by members of the Game Over Task Force." The remains they found at the Compound were later identified as belonging to Howery.
Investigators eventually learned that Stearns and Howery got into a heated argument on Feb. 15, 2023. During the altercation, Stearns fatally shot Howery. Authorities said that Stearns then "dismembered and burned the body, burying the remains in several different locations." The process reportedly took several days and left law enforcement with five different crime scenes at the Compound to investigate.
At sentencing on Thursday, prosecutor Samantha Barrett said, "The defendant was angry at Ms. Howery. He was jealous, because she was seeing other men and that their relationship was not exclusive. She was not, to quote him, 'following his relationship rules.'"
Todd Howery, the ex-husband of the victim, said, "What he has done to Nancy was demented and defective. … It wasn't just a murder, okay? It was a savage slaughter."
Stearns was sentenced to life in prison for the murder charge. Additionally, he was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for both the abuse of a dead human body and tampering with evidence.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
