Inset: Randall Grinwis (Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Michigan where Grinwis and his girlfriend lived before he killed her two years ago (Google Maps).
A 59-year-old man in Ohio will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his girlfriend of 20 years with his bare hands, using his forearm to strangle her during an argument over the couple’s living arrangements and later telling authorities that he “snapped.”
A jury in Ottawa County on Friday found Randall Grinwis guilty on one count of second-degree murder in the 2024 slaying of 63-year-old Dopnna Hyma, court records show. Jurors also convicted Grinwis on one count of larceny between $1,000 and $20,000 for stealing from the victim’s brother shortly after the murder.
Deputies with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 1, 2024, responded to a 911 call requesting a welfare check on a home in the 200 block of Patti Place in Zeeland Township, Grand Rapids Fox affiliate WXMI reported. The home is about 165 miles northwest of Detroit.
Upon arriving at the address, first responders found an adult female, later identified as Hyma, unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hyma’s death was initially determined to be from natural causes but still considered suspicious. Authorities were unable to locate Grinwis, who was quickly identified as a possible person of interest. A subsequent autopsy revealed her cause of death was manual asphyxiation.
Investigators then learned Grinwis killed Hyma and stole several items from their home before fleeing to Las Vegas. Specifically, Grinwis swiped $1,800 in cash from Hyma’s brother, drove to Chicago, and then used the stolen funds to book a flight to Las Vegas, the Holland Sentinel reported.
Hyma’s brother, who lived with the couple, testified he had given his sister his bank card to withdraw the $1,800 for him and asked her to put it in a lockbox in his room. The brother was not staying in the home at the time of the murder due to a recent surgery.
Grinwis remained in Las Vegas for two weeks before he reportedly ran out of money, turned himself in, and confessed to killing Hyma on Jan. 15, 2024.
In the taped admission, Grinwis said he and Hyma got into an argument over their living arrangements while drinking heavily. At some point, Grinwis said Hyma was sitting on the couch when he approached her from behind, placed his forearm across her neck, and applied pressure until she stopped moving.
After failing to find a pulse, Grinwis packed a bag, took the lockbox money, and drove away from the home. While driving, Grinwis said he “felt guilty” and placed the 911 call requesting a welfare check before tossing his phone out the window.
A recording of the confession was played during trial, with jurors hearing Grinwis telling detectives how he just “snapped,” according to the Sentinel.
“She was saying some really crazy s— and I’m telling on myself right now and I snapped,” he said on the tape. “I don’t know how else to say it.”
He went on to say that he could not remember exactly what made him lose his temper.
“I don’t know what made me snap,” Grinwis reportedly said. “I honestly don’t. That’s what hurts the most for me.”
Grinwis faces a possible life sentence when he appears in court again for his sentencing hearing on March 30.
