BATON ROUGE - A Kansas woman convicted of murder after a missing Georgia man's body parts were discovered by a couple in 2023 was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Danetta Knoblauch of Wichita, Kan., was found guilty of multiple charges, including felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, arson and concealing the death of another after the death of Melvin Cooksey.

Knoblauch was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus thirty years in prison due to "particularly heinous nature of her crimes, her steps to try to cover-up her murder of Cooksey, her lack of remorse or taking responsibility, and her history," the Alcovy Circuit District Attorney Randy McGinley said.

Cooksey was reported missing in February of 2023 after Newton County officials responded to a fire, according to the Newton County District Attorney's Office.  During the investigation, authorities discovered that the fire was intentionally set with propane tanks spread throughout the house. 

In May of the same year, a couple hiking through the mountains in Fannin County came across a human skull, leading law enforcement to the discovery of a pacemaker with a serial number matching Cooksey's. 

Witness statements, social media, phone and license plate reader camera records led to the identification of Knoblauch, who was previously wanted for allegedly attacking a man with a sledgehammer in Kansas. 

Knoblauch was tracked to East Baton Rouge, La., and arrested on Kansas warrants following a lengthy standoff with the Baton Rouge Police Department and Louisiana State Police.