A Northland man who admitted murdering his partner Gaelene Bright​ – a loving grandmother – has been sentenced to life in prison.

Bright, 69, was a mother of five and nana to six, described as caring, kind and honest.

Her disappearance in May, 2022 sparked an extensive police search until her body was found in Waipoua Forest, near Tāne Mahuta, on May 17, 2022.

Raymond Charles Phillimore​, 66, initially denied the charges of murdering Bright and unlawfully possessing a .22 but admitted both a year later.

But in the High Court in Whangārei on Thursday, Justice Peter Andrew said it was a “heartless and wholly inexcusable crime”, despite his guilty plea.

Phillimore was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum period of imprisonment of 13 years.

The court heard how Bright and Phillimore lived together in a remote property near Waipoua Forest, described as a “hippy” Hokianga site.

But their three-year relation started to sour, particularly after Phillimore attended the Parliament protest in Wellington early in 2022.

He admitted killing Bright with three potentially fatal shots – two to the head and one to the chest.

“It was, as the Crown as submitted, an execution-style murder,” Justice Andrew said.

Phillimore disposed of Bright’s body in the forest, later moving it further from the road and covering it with leaves and twigs.

He then lit a fire to dispose of pieces of evidence and left the scene, heading to Napier, where he was picked up by police, naked on the foreshore.