St. Maarten Private Eye

I don't think that was a premeditated murder but JH first got 8yrs then 14yrs after the appeal. There ae cases where people beat others to death and pull off a sentence of 6-8yrs. How is that possible? Well I don't really know the law and sentence of murder but I would like to find out more to see the comparison of shooting someone to death and beating someone or stabbing someone to death. (Any information would be accepted)