Grover Beach man to serve 30 years to life for slaying of elderly Oceano activist
A Grover Beach man who pleaded no contest to the brutal murder of an elderly Oceano man was sentenced to 30 years to life for the murder Thursday, court documents show.
David Krause, 42, entered a no contest plea on Oct. 4 to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and elder abuse of Lawrence “Larry” Bross, meaning that Krause does not formerly admit he did the crime but he also does not dispute it. The plea functions the same as a guilty plea.
He waived his right to a jury trial and was sentenced to 30 years to life for murder. The elder abuse charge held an additional 11 years in prison, but could not be imposed because California law does not allow multiple punishments for the same act.
Krause was arrested in 2021 on suspicion of killing 90-year-old Bross, a retired history teacher and activist who was found dead in his home in 2019.
Bross died by “multiple chop force traumatic injuries,” the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office told The Tribune in 2019.
Krause was not arrested until nearly two years later, in April 2021, after investigators found DNA evidence on Krause’s shoe that matched Bross’ blood, Deputy District Attorney Julie Antos said at the preliminary hearing in October 2021.
At the hearing, investigators said Krause visited Bross’ home about a week before the crime and had a tool similar to the one used in the murder. The tool appeared to be a drywall or roofing hammer, with a hammer head on one end and a bladed axe on the other.
Krause’s wife told investigators he had accompanied her to the house on a cleaning job. He had recently been released from prison after being convicted of burglaries in 2016 and 2018.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 10:35 AM.
