Frank Schilt's icy-gray eyes barely glanced at his grieving children as he was led away in handcuffs Monday to begin serving 44 years in prison for killing their mother and dumping her body in the trash.

His lack of emotion and remorse in the clubbing death of his 51-year-old wife, Teresa Schilt, have been the hallmarks of one of the city's most heinous murders, said prosecutor Kerri Lombardi.

"He has never shown any remorse," she said. "After killing her, he drove around with his wife's body in the trunk of the car for seven days and threw his wife - the mother of his children - in the trash. This is one of the most cold-blooded, heinous, agonizing cases we have seen."

Schilt was also charged with trying to kill the couple's 15-year-old daughter, Melody, by carbon monoxide poisoning several weeks after the murder. She woke up up feeling sick one morning and found that Schilt had rigged a hose from his van running in the garage to her bedroom.

"In spite of you and the horrible person you are, I am working on becoming the best I can be," Melody Schilt said at the sentencing hearing in Denver District Court. "My mom was everything to me. She was my Supermom who could make everything right."

After killing his wife in the bedroom on Feb. 25, 2006, Schilt went downstairs to read the paper and have a cup of coffee, Lombardi said. Then he wrapped his wife's body in a comforter and garbage bags, put it in the trunk of the car and went to pick up Melody at dance class.

He drove around with the body in the trunk of the family car for a week before dumping it in a trash container near Lakeside Amusement Park.

Schilt concocted a "web of deceit and concealment" about his wife's disappearance, Lombardi said, telling family members that she was in Cleveland visiting a sick relative, that she was in the hospital in Chicago and that she was attending a convention in Texas.

Teresa Schilt's body was never recovered despite an 87-day search of landfills by police, firefighters and volunteers.

"Frank held the entire family in limbo and fear for three weeks," said Jean Rogers, Teresa Schilt's sister. "He not only lied about Teresa, he desecrated her body. We will never be able to lay her to rest. He has sentenced her children to life without their mother."

Family members asked for a maximum 48-year sentence and said they were satisfied with the 44 years.

Originally charged with first-degree murder, Schilt pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May. He claimed that he accidentally killed his wife during an argument over money.

Teresa Schilt, who worked two jobs to support the family, had discovered that her husband had squandered all their money and her inheritance trading baseball cards on eBay.

Schilt fled to Arkansas on March 13, telling his family he had a job interview there. He was arrested March 30, 2006, after he tried to hang himself.

lindsays@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5181