FOND DU LAC, Wis. (WTAQ) - A Brookfield man who strangled and burned his girlfriend, and dumped her ashes in Lake Winnebago, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

37-year-old Brandon Mueller was given no chance for a future release when he was sentenced Tuesday by Fond du Lac County Circuit Judge Robert Wirtz.

The girlfriend, 28-year-old Renee Redmer of Waukesha, disappeared almost 2 years ago. No one knew where she was until Mueller admitted to a friend that he strangled her at her mother’s home in Fond du Lac.

The mother, Nancy Pinno – and the friend, Donald Worth – both helped Mueller burn the body in a barrel and dumped the remains in Lake Winnebago. Worth eventually told police what happened.

Pinno got 8 years in prison for her role, and Worth 6 years. The murder resulted from a fight between Mueller and his girlfriend, after he flushed her heroin down a toilet.

Before the slaying, he was convicted of assaulting women in 4 other cases.