A jury in Essen found Günther O. guilty of first degree murder, meaning he will not be eligible for release for at least 15 years.

Günther O., who is originally from the Austrian province of Carinthia, fathered a child with his step-daughter Madeleine, and is believed to have started sexually abusing her when she was only 14 years old.

He is the father of her three-year-old child, although family friends were told Madeleine became pregnant after a one night stand.

She managed to escape from him in August 2012 and reported him to the police. They started an investigation but underestimated how dangerous he was.

In February 2014 Günther O. used his son Daniel (22) to help lure Madeleine to his allotment. There he hit her on the head, choked her to death and then covered her body in concrete and buried it.  Police discovered her body on February 18th.

They later found a text message on Günther’s phone which read: "You will eventually be below the earth. I will trample on the earth and say, Madeleine, you are quiet now!"

His son, Daniel, was sentenced to four years in prison as an accessory to murder.

The judge said that Günther "is a psychopath who considered Madeleine to be his property" and disposed of her body as if it was "garden waste”.