INDIANAPOLIS — A 23-year-old man convicted of killing his estranged girlfriend, then burning and dismembering the body before dumping parts in several trash bins, was sentenced Friday to 68 years in prison.

A Marion County judge sentenced Joshua Bean to 65 years for murder and three years for abuse of a corpse in the death of 20-year-old Heather Norris.

“We are grateful to the court for getting Heather justice,” her mother, Debbie Norris, said after Friday’s court hearing.

A jury convicted him on those charges last month. Bean’s defense attorney said Bean killed Norris in self-defense when she threatened him with a steak knife, cutting his arm and hands.

Under police questioning, Bean said he killed Norris in his Indianapolis home and disposed of her body in about 10 trash bins on the city’s south side in April 2007.

Authorities said Bean later had the carpet replaced in his home and left Norris’ car at a motel. None of her remains have ever been found.

Police said Norris had a protective order against Bean and that he had domestic battery charges pending against him.

Debbie Norris reported her daughter missing about two weeks after she had last received a text message from her.