Before killing the 17-year-old boy, the young men had already dug a hole in the California forests where they planned to bury him.

According to Placer County prosecutors, 18-year-old Daniel Bezemer was jealous of his 17-year-old girlfriend, Justine Vanderschoot, and Bezemer and his best friend, 21-year-old Brandon Fernandez, decided to kill her.

The high school couple dropped off a family dinner at Justine’s house on Labor Day 2003 and met up with Fernandez.

Bezemer then strangled Justine and placed her body in Fernandez’s car. Deputy District Attorney Timothy Weerts told PEOPLE they went into the woods, stripped Justine of her clothes, poured what investigators believed was methanol on her and buried her.

Both Bezemer and Fernandez later told investigators that Justine was making sounds and moving in the grave, according to Weerts.

“He had dirt in his esophagus and lungs,” his mother, Lynnette Vanderschoot, recalled at a 2017 parole hearing. “So when they buried him he was out of breath.”

A pathologist later said the evidence was consistent with him being buried alive, but it was also possible he had inhaled soil before being buried.

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At first, Justine and Bezemer’s relationship seemed like so many high school romances: He’d show up on her hours to have dinner with his family. But prosecutors say there was also a deep jealousy that flowed like a cold current through their young relationship. And prosecutors said after Daniel Bezemer “got jealoustheir relationship was “defined” by his “jealousy and control”.

At 11 a.m. on Labor Day night, Placer County Sheriff’s detectives — accompanied by a chaplain — knocked on the Vanderschoots’ door.

“Your daughter isn’t coming home,” parents remember saying.

Prosecutors say both Bezemer and Fernandez eventually confessed to killing Justine.

Bezemer was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 2005. Bezemer, now 40 years old, parole A consultation was held in August 2020, according to its records, followed by a hearing nearly two years later. The Valley State prison inmate’s application was denied in both 2022 and 2023, and another hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 2028.

Convicted of second-degree murder, Fernandez was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Fernandez, now 42, came first came for parole in 2017 and again in 2022, according to inmate records. He was denied both times and has a third parole eligibility hearing scheduled for July 2027.

Fernandez also re-filed a criminal complaint with the court in an attempt to obtain early release from San Quentin State Prison. California law This law, which came into force in 2019, can reduce the civil liability of an accomplice to murder.

“What kind of message are we sending to our young women that someone could plan, engineer and carry out a horrific murder against a young girl and be entitled to legal aid?” we ask. Justine’s family said in a statement following her petition: rejectedHe called the reform legislation “misguided.”

The Placer County Superior Court judge who rejected her petition earlier this year noted that both men had been fabricating events for decades connected to Justine’s carefully planned murder: Bezemer had previously helped dig Justine’s grave, knew her location, and changed her tires shortly thereafter. in the vehicle that took him to the grave.

Recently, Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said that Justine’s family “turned their pain into purpose” and that her relatives were working with prosecutors to prepare the draft. state legislation – approved by the governor last year – to provide teen dating violence education in California schools.

“By teaching our youth healthy boundaries and the early signs of teen dating violence, we hope to prevent future victims and attackers,” Gire added.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to: thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The helpline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.