Joseph Nevera’s sentence followed a first-degree murder conviction and a jury decision denying him any future chance at parole.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Joseph Nevera has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2024 killing of Kimberly Osborne, ending a case in which prosecutors used years of reported domestic violence, a prior strangulation allegation and testimony from one of Nevera’s closest friends to establish what happened after Osborne vanished on Mother’s Day.

Monongalia County Circuit Judge Cindy Scott imposed the life sentence without mercy on Aug. 10, carrying out the punishment selected by jurors after they convicted Nevera of first-degree murder in April. Under West Virginia law as applied in the case, the jury’s decision to deny mercy means Nevera will not become eligible for parole. The sentencing hearing closed the principal criminal case more than two years after Osborne disappeared and nearly two years after her remains were found in a wooded area near the Morgantown home she had shared with Nevera.

The final sentence had effectively been determined months earlier. On April 21, a Monongalia County jury found Nevera guilty after several days of testimony. The panel returned the next day for the separate mercy phase, when it was asked whether the mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder should include the possibility of parole. Jurors declined to grant mercy. Had they done so, Nevera could have received a parole hearing after serving the minimum period required by state law. Instead, Scott formally imposed the no-parole sentence selected by the jury when Nevera returned to court in August.

Osborne disappeared May 12, 2024, Mother’s Day. Her failure to appear for a family gathering immediately worried relatives who said the absence was out of character. The case remained unresolved for months as investigators tried to determine what had happened. On Nov. 16, 2024, a man practicing archery in a wooded section near Little Indian Creek Road encountered human remains in a shallow grave. Authorities later identified the remains as Osborne’s. The site was about two miles from the residence associated with Osborne and Nevera, according to local reporting on the investigation and trial.

At trial, prosecutors did not present the case as an unexplained disappearance that suddenly turned deadly. They argued that Osborne’s death followed an established pattern of violence in the relationship. Jurors were shown law enforcement video from a January 2022 domestic disturbance in which Osborne told a Monongalia County sheriff’s deputy that Nevera had choked her. In the recording, Osborne described losing consciousness and said the assault had been more severe than previous episodes. The footage allowed jurors to hear Osborne describe the earlier violence in her own words years before the murder prosecution began.

Other testimony focused on statements Nevera allegedly made as his relationship with Osborne deteriorated. Prosecutors said Osborne had been trying to leave him and had begun seeing another man. A witness said Nevera had threatened to choke Osborne and warned that she could end up “in a grave or a hole in the ground.” Detective Joshua Ward testified that witnesses described the couple arguing on the day Osborne disappeared and that Nevera made another threat that she would not be found. Prosecutors later drew a direct connection between those statements and the location where Osborne’s remains were ultimately recovered.

A central part of the prosecution’s case came from John Claburn, a longtime friend of Nevera who knew Osborne as well. Claburn testified that Nevera arrived at his camper on the night Osborne disappeared and told him he had killed her. At first, Claburn said, he thought Nevera was making a disturbing joke. That changed when Nevera opened his truck and showed him Osborne’s body. Claburn described the encounter to jurors and testified that Nevera then left for the area where Osborne would later be found. Claburn did not promptly report what he knew and was later charged as an accessory after the fact.

Claburn’s delay became a major issue for the defense. Attorney Christopher Wilson argued that the case lacked physical evidence directly establishing Nevera as the killer and urged jurors to scrutinize the testimony of a witness who waited hundreds of days before giving investigators his account. The defense also emphasized that forensic examination of Osborne’s remains did not initially establish a definitive cause of death. Prosecutors countered that Claburn had not received immunity and faced criminal consequences himself. They argued that his account fit other evidence, including the couple’s history, threats described by witnesses and investigative findings surrounding the disappearance.

The case also produced an unusual development while the trial was underway. After Claburn testified against Nevera, his camper was set on fire. Authorities arrested an Ohio man, David Dewalt, on charges including first-degree arson and retaliation against a witness. Investigators said Claburn had received threats before the fire and that surveillance equipment placed at the property showed Dewalt there shortly before the blaze. Those accusations were part of a separate criminal matter and did not change the charge the jury was deciding against Nevera, but the episode underscored the pressure surrounding one of the prosecution’s most important witnesses.

After finding Nevera guilty, jurors heard directly about the impact of Osborne’s death before deciding whether he should ever have a chance at parole. Her mother, Rose Osborne, described the months when she continued hoping her daughter might return. She testified about the moment an officer came to her home after the remains had been found and she understood what the visit meant. Other relatives also addressed the court. Osborne’s teenage daughter spoke about milestones she would now face without her mother and about how the killing had changed her childhood.

The mercy phase placed those losses beside the defense request that jurors leave open the possibility of parole. Nevera’s attorneys maintained their challenge to the strength of the prosecution’s evidence while asking the panel to consider mercy. Prosecutor Gabrielle Mucciola argued that the jury had already determined that Nevera killed Osborne and asked jurors to consider the history of violence presented during the trial. After deliberating, the panel returned with its second decision: life without mercy. That finding removed the possibility of a future parole hearing and left the August sentencing judge with the task of formally imposing the punishment.

Osborne was 48 and a mother of three. Her obituary described her as a self-employed health care provider who enjoyed singing karaoke and was remembered by relatives for generosity and a willingness to help other people. Those personal details formed a different picture from the crime-scene and courtroom evidence that dominated the criminal case. At sentencing, family members again addressed the loss, while Mucciola said relatives appeared relieved that the court process had reached a point of closure, even though the sentence could not undo the killing.

With Scott’s Aug. 10 order, Nevera’s first-degree murder prosecution reached its sentencing conclusion. His life-without-mercy sentence makes him ineligible for parole. Claburn’s accessory case and the separate charges arising from the fire at his camper were distinct proceedings. For Osborne’s family, the sentencing completed the central criminal case that began with her unexplained absence on Mother’s Day 2024 and ended after a jury found that the man she had been trying to leave was responsible for her death.

Author note: Last updated September 22, 2026.