Judge Sentences New Jersey Serial Killer Khalil Wheeler-Waver To 160 Years In Prison

A New Jersey serial killer who used dating apps to trap his victims was sentenced to 160 years in prison by an Essex County Judge on Wednesday.

“The purpose of this sentence is that he never walks free in society again,” Judge Mark Ali told a Newark courtroom, according to northjersey.com.

Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, displayed no emotion as the judge handed down his sentence, according to Associated Press. He told the judge that he was framed for the crimes in a brief address to the court.

Wheeler-Weaver, 25, was convicted in December of 2019 of three counts of murder in connection with the deaths of three young women he killed between August and November of 2016 and the kidnapping, sexual assault and attempted murder of a fourth woman.

His sentencing was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, northjersey.com reported.

As previously reported by Oxygen.com, prosecutors credited friends of one of his victims, Sarah Butler, a college student from Montclair, for creating a fake social media account to entice Wheeler-Weaver into a meeting. This ultimately led police to the convicted killer. 

Prosecutors said Wheeler-Weaver ensnared his victims by arranging sexual encounters and then brutally assaulting them and wrapping their faces in tape, northjersey.com reported.

Tiffany Taylor, who survived Wheeler-Weaver's attack, told the court on Wednesday that the experience forever changed her.

“My whole life is different; I don’t wear makeup anymore; I don’t have friends. I’m always paranoid. But I’m happy to still be here,” she said, according to AP. She told Judge Ali, “I hope you don’t show any remorse because he’s not showing any remorse.”

Prosecutors said during the trial that Wheeler-Weaver used dating apps to set up his victims. The bodies of his three victims were found between September and December of 2016. Wheeler-Weaver’s cell phone linked him to his victims’ disappearance and the location of their bodies.

“The defendant believed these victims were disposable. They were killed and then he went on about his day as if nothing had happened," Assistant Essex County Prosecutor said Wednesday.  “But each of these women's lives mattered.”

Robin West’s mother, Anita Mason, shared memories of her daughter with the news service.

“I will never forget her smile, her face, her walk, her desire to help homeless people,” Mason said according to AP. "The world focuses on the last month of her life. She had a whole entire life before her demise. Hundreds of people were affected by her life and were saddened by her death."