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David A. Callaghan, 53, was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 18 years on May 6, 2019, for the murder of Martha Robin Freitag in Akron, Summit County, Ohio.

Callaghan pleaded guilty in March 2019 in Summit County Common Pleas Court to murder, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and domestic violence, according to the Summit County Prosecutor's Office. The domestic violence charge was not among the charges first filed in September 2018. Judge Alison Breaux imposed the sentence. Ohio prison records show it consisted of 15 years to life for murder, a consecutive three years for tampering with evidence, and one year for abuse of a corpse, served concurrently.

Authorities said Callaghan beat Freitag to death in July 2018 and buried her body in the backyard of her house in the 600 block of Crouse Street. Freitag was 53 according to the 2018 reports. Her family said she and Callaghan had been romantically involved and that he had been staying at her home; court records listed the house as his residence. Most reports described her as his girlfriend; one called her his ex-girlfriend. Neighbors said she was last seen in late July 2018.

Freitag's daughter reported her missing on September 5, 2018, after no one in the family had heard from her for more than a month. A family member later searched the backyard and reported finding remains in a fire pit. Investigators began searching the property on September 13, 2018, and recovered remains from a shallow grave behind the house. The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office brought in an anthropology team from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, to recover them. They were identified as Freitag's.

Callaghan was already in the Summit County Jail on unrelated charges when he was charged with murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse on September 14, 2018. He was 52 when charged. At his arraignment on September 17, 2018, he pleaded not guilty, and a judge set bond at $2 million. The Summit County Medical Examiner had not yet announced a cause of death.

Detectives interviewed Callaghan in an interview room and recorded the session. Near the end, he told them he hit Freitag, did not plan to do it and did not remember the first blows. He said he then took her to the backyard in a blanket, dug a hole a couple of feet deep and covered her up. When he asked what he would be charged with, a detective told him that was a question for a lawyer.

Callaghan entered state prison on May 15, 2019. Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction records list him as incarcerated at Marion Correctional Institution, with a parole eligibility date of September 8, 2036, and a first parole board hearing set for July 2036.

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Part 2 of 2 of the recording described above.