PHOENIX— Robert Interval (D.O.B. 07-20-1979) was sentenced today to 25 years in the Department of Corrections after being found guilty of Second Degree Murder for the death of his girlfriend 34-year-old Christine Mustafa.

“This defendant’s actions have left the victim’s daughters without a mother and a family without a beloved sister and daughter, and our community permanently deprived of her talents and vitality. Today’s sentencing holds this defendant fully accountable for his actions,” said Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery.

On May 11, 2017 police were first alerted by concerned family members and co-workers that Mustafa did not show up for work, something she never did in over a decade of employment at the store. When officers went to her home to check on her they found the defendant at their shared home with their infant child. The defendant told officers Mustafa had left for work, but could not explain why her car was still at the home.

Family and friends of Mustafa told investigators the couple had not been getting along and Mustafa was looking for ways to safely distance herself and their infant child from the defendant, including looking to a possible order of protection and moving out of their home.

Investigators learned that the defendant had told a family member about fighting with Mustafa and that he had a plan for her. Additionally, investigators learned that Interval bought supplies that may have been used to hide Mustafa’s body. He also stopped by a garbage transfer station the same day she was reported missing, leading to a nearly three-month long landfill search.

Despite not finding evidence of the murder during the landfill search, prosecutors were still able to present a case to a jury and they found Interval guilty of Second Degree murder on April 16, 2019.