By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Lisa Vanderyacht appeared at Monday’s sentencing for the man who murdered her mother a little more than two years ago, wearing a necklace she once gave Donna Hyma as a gift, as well as the same blue print dress her mother wore when Vanderyacht got married.
There was intent behind those choices – Vanderyacht wanted to impress upon Randall Grinwis what was taken away from her the night of Jan. 1, 2024, when Hyma was suffocated inside the Zeeland Township mobile home she shared with Grinwis, her boyfriend of 18 years.
“He was not a stranger, he was family. We let him in. We trusted him,” Vanderyacht said at the beginning of her victim impact statement prior to Grinwis’ sentencing.
Vanderyacht went on to speak of how her mother tried to keep Grinwis on the straight and narrow, but he wouldn’t do the things he needed to change his ways.
“He had the answers, he knew what to do, and he decided it wasn’t worth it,” she said. “He chose every day not to do the work, and then one day, he snapped and took her life … it was a day just like any other. They were fighting, that was normal, but she wasn’t being extra mean. Nothing about that day was different. He just snapped. An ordinary fight, (and) he decided to end her life.”
Grinwis, 59, was sentenced by Ottawa County Circuit Judge Karen Miedema to 32-1/2-to-90 years in prison on a second-degree murder conviction in the death of Hyma, who was 63. He was convicted Feb. 27 of the murder charge as well as one count of larceny of more than $1,000 but less than $20,000.
According to prosecutors, Grinwis and Hyma had been arguing about living arrangements the night she was killed. According to recorded statements Grinwis made to three different detectives – one with Las Vegas, Nev. police and two with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office – he extended his forearm across Hyma’s neck and pushed down on it to the point where she stopped breathing.
After Hyma’s death, Grinwis fled the area with $1,800 he had earlier withdrawn from the bank that was to have been placed in a lockbox belonging to Hyma’s brother. He later stopped at a casino in Michigan City, Ind., then drove on to Chicago, where he caught a flight out of O’Hare International Airport to Las Vegas, Medema said during the trial.
Two weeks after Hyma’s death and after living on the streets of Las Vegas for a week, Grinwis walked into a police station there and confessed to killing Hyma.
In issuing the sentence, Miedema called Hyma’s death “totally avoidable.”
“You could have left the space where you were living with her. You had other options. But you chose to do the very drastic and very evil option,” the judge said.
Vanderyacht said after the hearing she was pleased with the sentence.
“Hell yeah. Let him rot in hell,” she said.
Senior assistant county prosecutor Ben Medema challenged Grinwis’ repeated statements to detectives that he “snapped” during the argument with Hyma.
“This was not a snap. Two of the people’s witnesses said (suffocating her) would have taken minutes, but even by the defendant’s own expert, she said it would have taken at least 40 seconds … He had 40 seconds to change his mind, and instead he continued pressing down on her (neck),” Medema said.
Defense attorney Philip Sielski appealed for a lighter sentence, saying Grinwis himself provided the evidence for the prosecution to build their case against him. Sielski said his client turned himself into Las Vegas police primarily out of grief over Hyma’s death.
“Was he desperate at that point because of having no money? Undoubtedly,” Sielski said. “But he didn’t have to turn himself into the police in order to find a place to stay. They have homeless shelters in Las Vegas. He didn’t have to confess in order to get a meal.
In fact, there’s no indication that when he was at the police department that he was asking for food or anything, other than the opportunity to talk to the police.”
Grinwis declined to make a statement to the judge before sentencing.
Grinwis received credit for 805 days served in jail toward his sentence. He must also pay back $5,445 in restitution – $3,645 to cover Hyma’s funeral expenses along with the $1,800 he took from Hyma’s brother.
Zeeland Record
Lisa Vanderyacht appeared at Monday’s sentencing for the man who murdered her mother a little more than two years ago, wearing a necklace she once gave Donna Hyma as a gift, as well as the same blue print dress her mother wore when Vanderyacht got married.
There was intent behind those choices – Vanderyacht wanted to impress upon Randall Grinwis what was taken away from her the night of Jan. 1, 2024, when Hyma was suffocated inside the Zeeland Township mobile home she shared with Grinwis, her boyfriend of 18 years.
“He was not a stranger, he was family. We let him in. We trusted him,” Vanderyacht said at the beginning of her victim impact statement prior to Grinwis’ sentencing.
Vanderyacht went on to speak of how her mother tried to keep Grinwis on the straight and narrow, but he wouldn’t do the things he needed to change his ways.
“He had the answers, he knew what to do, and he decided it wasn’t worth it,” she said. “He chose every day not to do the work, and then one day, he snapped and took her life … it was a day just like any other. They were fighting, that was normal, but she wasn’t being extra mean. Nothing about that day was different. He just snapped. An ordinary fight, (and) he decided to end her life.”
Grinwis, 59, was sentenced by Ottawa County Circuit Judge Karen Miedema to 32-1/2-to-90 years in prison on a second-degree murder conviction in the death of Hyma, who was 63. He was convicted Feb. 27 of the murder charge as well as one count of larceny of more than $1,000 but less than $20,000.
According to prosecutors, Grinwis and Hyma had been arguing about living arrangements the night she was killed. According to recorded statements Grinwis made to three different detectives – one with Las Vegas, Nev. police and two with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office – he extended his forearm across Hyma’s neck and pushed down on it to the point where she stopped breathing.
After Hyma’s death, Grinwis fled the area with $1,800 he had earlier withdrawn from the bank that was to have been placed in a lockbox belonging to Hyma’s brother. He later stopped at a casino in Michigan City, Ind., then drove on to Chicago, where he caught a flight out of O’Hare International Airport to Las Vegas, Medema said during the trial.
Two weeks after Hyma’s death and after living on the streets of Las Vegas for a week, Grinwis walked into a police station there and confessed to killing Hyma.
In issuing the sentence, Miedema called Hyma’s death “totally avoidable.”
“You could have left the space where you were living with her. You had other options. But you chose to do the very drastic and very evil option,” the judge said.
Vanderyacht said after the hearing she was pleased with the sentence.
“Hell yeah. Let him rot in hell,” she said.
Senior assistant county prosecutor Ben Medema challenged Grinwis’ repeated statements to detectives that he “snapped” during the argument with Hyma.
“This was not a snap. Two of the people’s witnesses said (suffocating her) would have taken minutes, but even by the defendant’s own expert, she said it would have taken at least 40 seconds … He had 40 seconds to change his mind, and instead he continued pressing down on her (neck),” Medema said.
Defense attorney Philip Sielski appealed for a lighter sentence, saying Grinwis himself provided the evidence for the prosecution to build their case against him. Sielski said his client turned himself into Las Vegas police primarily out of grief over Hyma’s death.
“Was he desperate at that point because of having no money? Undoubtedly,” Sielski said. “But he didn’t have to turn himself into the police in order to find a place to stay. They have homeless shelters in Las Vegas. He didn’t have to confess in order to get a meal.
In fact, there’s no indication that when he was at the police department that he was asking for food or anything, other than the opportunity to talk to the police.”
Grinwis declined to make a statement to the judge before sentencing.
Grinwis received credit for 805 days served in jail toward his sentence. He must also pay back $5,445 in restitution – $3,645 to cover Hyma’s funeral expenses along with the $1,800 he took from Hyma’s brother.
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