A California man has been found guilty of murdering his 30-year-old girlfriend and living with her
body in his apartment for two weeks.
A jury convicted Santa Cruz resident John Bruce Clauer, 66, following a three-week trial after only four hours of deliberation.
Clauer now faces up to 25 years in prison for the murder of Heather Stearns, 30.
'We were extremely pleased that they (the jury) were not out very long, and we were extremely pleased with the verdict,' prosecutor Jeff Rosell told the Santa Cruz Sentinel outside court.
Clauer reportedly sighed and was reprimanded for outbursts during the trial, but faced the verdict stoically.
Jury foreman Conrado Montes, 71, told the Sentinal that testimony from Clauer's neighbors and ex-girlfriends during the trial 'was like seeing one of those really bad horror movies.'
Clauer's neighbors and ex-girlfriends testified during the trial, as well as police, the Santa Cruz County coroner and others.
'He [Clauer] was slowly building up this hatred [for Stearns]. He was like a time bomb. It all came to a halt one night.'
The jury heard how Stearns was strangled and stomped to death in Clauer's apartment near the San Lorenzo Rivermouth in April 2011.
The Sentinal reports that Stearns was an alcoholic whose dependency had taken over her life. She lived with Clauer because he provided her with a place to stay and booze.
According to neighbors, the couple argued regularly and the sounds of Clauer's vicious beating of Stearns was nothing unusual, so they turned up the television and did not notify police.
It wasn't until a strong odor emanating from Clauer's apartment two weeks later led the neighbors to investigate. The obtained keys from the building manager and entered the apartment.
They discovered Stearns' corpse, wrapped in blankets on a bed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547213/Man-66-guilty-strangling-30-year-old-girlfriend-death-living-body-two-weeks.html
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