In a historic case, a District man was sentenced to 42 years in prison Friday for the shooting death of his girlfriend.
Marion Fye disappeared around Thanksgiving 2003, but her body was never found.
Harold Austin was prosecuted and eventually found guilty of her murder — only the second time in D.C. history that someone has been convicted of a murder in a case without a body.
Prosecutors had hoped that, facing a life sentence, Austin would tell the court where Fye’s body was. But he remained defiant Friday, claiming that he hadn’t killed her and that she was still alive somewhere.
“I think it’s a bittersweet victory,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas “Tad” DiBiase. “While it’s great to have him incarcerated for that long, it’s hard for Marion’s children not to know where she is.”
According to authorities, Austin had moved into Fye’s apartment at 39 V St. NE in 2003. Around Thanksgiving, the couple had a vicious argument. Neighbors reported hearing a gunshot and then a loud thump. Fye has not been seen since.
Police say that Austin eventually confessed to killing Fye. But he gave dubious statements, claiming, for instance, that he had put her body in a Dumpster behind Ben’s Chili Bowl. He also claimed that another girlfriend — a D.C. city employee — had helped him move Fye’s body. Prosecutors believe that Austin didn’t meet the city official until she rear-ended his car a week after Fye disappeared.
HISTORY OF THE CRIME
» There is only one other recorded case where D.C. authorities convicted someone of murder without finding a body.
» In 1983, two men were convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Patsy Gaisior. They later admitted to dumping her body into the Potomac River.
