THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010408
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Eric VanPoortfliet, who killed his wife and transported her body around for several weeks before burying her in a makeshift grave, was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum of 20 years.
VanPoortfliet, 39, strangled his wife, Rebecca, 33, during a drunken brawl in his automotive-detailing shop in May 1991.
He eventually buried her body behind their Virginia Beach trailer, where the body remained for more than two years until he confessed in New York when he was arrested for abusing his children, ages 2 to 14 at the time of the slaying.
He pleaded guilty in September to second-degree murder after authorities established there was no evidence of premeditation. Wednesday, defense attorneys asked for less than the maximum sentence, saying a history of alcohol- and drug-abuse that began at age 9 contributed to the murder.
Instead, Judge Jerome B. Friedman gave VanPoortfliet the maximum sentence.
``I have to take into account the heinous nature of this crime,'' Friedman said. ``But more so, the heinous nature of what happened to the body afterward.''
After the murder, VanPoortfliet loaded his wife's body into the passenger side of his unregistered black 1977 Oldsmobile and drove to Friendship Village, a subsidized-housing development off Birdneck Road, where he bought cocaine and marijuana.
For the next few weeks, he moved her body in and out of his shop in the 4900 block of Virginia Beach Boulevard. He eventually wrapped the body, head to toe, in clear plastic like a cocoon, tying her with an extension cord.
He may have had the body in the van when he took his children to Schenectady, N.Y., to celebrate Father's Day.
He moved the body one more time - to the couple's favorite spot for getting high, a dead tree in a swamp behind their trailer in Oconee Mobile Home Park on Tomahawk Trail near the London Bridge shoping center. He covered the body with a box spring and yard clippings, then placed a television set by her feet as a makeshift gravestone.
Wednesday, VanPoortfliet told the judge the murder was an accident.
``I never murdered or killed anyone,'' he said. ``She died in a fight. It was an accident. I went to hit her back because she hit me. I want my children to know how sorry I am. I live in a hell no one should experience. I hope to be in heaven with her soon.''
Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Humphreys said he wished the sentence could have been longer. This year, the General Assembly changed the maximum sentence for second-degree murder from 20 years to 40. VanPoortfliet was sentenced under the earlier guidelines because the slaying occurred before the tougher sentencing guidelines went into effect.
Humphreys argued that the use of an Alford plea undermined VanPoortfliet's claim that he was sorry. An Alford plea is used when the defendant maintains innocence but concedes that evidence is overwhelming and a guilty verdict is likely.
``If he accepted responsibility and showed remorse, that might be mitigating,'' Humphreys said. ``But he hasn't done that. . . . He rationalizes and blames others. He's not at fault. She's at fault. Drugs and alcohol are at fault.
``This was a horrible crime. He killed his wife, carries her around in his car for a week, wraps her in plastic, throws her in a ravine.
``Then he tells his children their mommy ran off with another man. It offends society.
``He brought six children into the world. To say they have been through a lot and will never live normal lives is a gross understatement. . .
``If ever circumstances called for a greater sentence than 20 years, this is it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by BILL TIERNAN/
Eric VanPoortfliet, 39, listens to Commonwealth's Attorney Robert
Humphreys argue Wednesday in Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
VanPoortfliet said his wife died in an accident; Humphreys said he
wished VanPoortfliet's sentence could have been longer.
KEYWORDS: MURDER CONVICTION SENTENCE by CNB