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Raymond Eugene Craft, a 68-year-old man, was sentenced on Friday, March 28 to 15 years to life in prison for fatally beating Deborah Brutsche, his 72-year-old longtime live-in girlfriend at their Anaheim mobile home.
Craft was convicted on Jan. 28 of second-degree murder and inflicting injury on an elder adult, both felonies, with a sentencing enhancement for death of a victim older than 70.
Craft killed Brutsche last year, on Feb. 24, 2024.
The prosecutor, Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney, told the jury that Craft was Brutsche’s longtime boyfriend, for about 32 years.
The Anaheim Police Department sent offiers to check on Brutsche when they got a call from a concerned friend, on Feb. 26. When the officers arrived at her mobile home, at 41 Spruce Via at the Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park, they were met by Craft, who was described by the officers as being “somewhat intoxicated.” He was in the process of getting into the couple’s car, according to Birney.
When the police officers asked Craft about Brutsche, he admitted that she had been dead for a couple of days.
The officers found Brutsche in the kitchen of their home covered by a blanket. Her body was “badly bruised,” and the Craft’s hand was swollen, according to Birney.
Police also recovered videos and photos from Craft’s phone that showed the victim’s injuries.
An autopsy showed that Brutsche had suffered broken ribs, lacerations to her liver and injuries to her pancreas and spinal cord. These were the types of injuries one might get from being involved in a “high-speed traffic collision,” according to Birney. He also said that Brutsche “died of being beaten to death by Mr. Craft.”
Craft’s defense attorney, Allison Chan, of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, did the best she could with an awful defendant. She told the jury that “told jurors “there was no confession or evidence that anyone saw Craft beating the victim.” Chanalso said there was no evidence “to show a shoe or heel impression” to prove the victim was stomped upon, which was alleged by Birney.
Chan seemed to blame Brutsche’s “medical issues,” such as a stroke and osteoporosis, for her demise.
Chan then doubled down, saying that “the evidence is not going to show where this happened, just that she was found there.”
The jury did not buy Chan’s B.S. Craft was convicted in January of this year.
Brutsche was apparently a retired math teacher according to an Instagram page.
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