A man posted a series of haunting photos of his ex-girlfriend on their hiking trip just hours after he pushed her off a cliff.
Loren Bunner shot the 18-year-old twice, once in the back of the head and once between the eyes, before shoving her off a 12 metre cliff.
Bunner, now 22, and his ex-girlfriend Jolee Callan had broken up but when he suggested a hike, she agreed and texted her friend, joking: “If something happens to me, you’ll know who I was with.”
Bunner took the chilling photos just minutes before he pushed the young woman to her death on the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama and posted them with the creepy captions: “oh, ya know. Just enjoying the view” and “oh, @joleeisakitten the photographer”.
After he posted the photos, Bunner called the police and said: “I want to turn myself in for the murder of my ex-girlfriend that happened just a little while ago on Cheaha Mountain.”
Police found Ms Callan’s body still wearing her backpack as well as “a large amount of blood” where the shooting took place and on Bunner’s steering wheel.
Bunner initially told police he had killed his former girlfriend as a part of a suicide pact but was unable to kill himself, but her family said she had been making plans for the future and didn’t seem suicidal.
Her father, Michael Joe Callan, said they weren’t dating at the time of the murder and he had trouble “moving on with his life.”
The court also heard Bunner had bragged to cell mates about killing Ms Callan, saying if he couldn’t have her no one else could.
After initially pleading not guilty, Bunner confessed to the murder in July this year.
The court sentenced him to 52 years in prison after a year of legal wrangling that saw Bunner first given and then denied ‘youthful offender’ status. He will also need to pay AU$11, 500 in restitution to the Alabama Crime Victims Commission.
“She was a sweet, sweet girl. I think she’s smiling today,” her dad told reporters after the verdict.
