MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — A jury found a 50-year-old man guilty of murdering his wife in 2019 even though her body was never found.

The Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said that after two hours of deliberation and a five-day trial, the jury reached a verdict Friday evening. Jean J. Pierre of Montgomery Village was found guilty of second-degree murder for 41-year-old Nerlande Foreste’s death.

Nerlande Foreste

Officials said that they believe Pierre stabbed and killed Foreste in their home on Rothbury Lane in Montgomery Village on August 21, 2019, before putting her body in a shipping container and carrying it out to a dumpster.

The State’s Attorney’s Office said that Foreste’s body never was found.

Pierre will be sentenced on Friday, July 14 at 10 a.m. He faces up to 40 years in prison.