An Aurora man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday for murdering his friend and hiding the remains in an apartment complex’s crawl space, according to prosecutors and court records.
Haskel Leroy Crawford, 40, faced a charge of first-degree murder for the 2022 killing of Karl Beaman Jr. He pleaded guilty last month to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
Crawford killed Beaman after suspecting the latter to be a police informant, according to Crawford’s arrest affidavit. He moved the body with the help of Casie Taylor Bock, 31, and the two stashed Beaman’s remains in a crawl space next to Bock’s apartment.
Crawford’s 30-year sentence will be served after a 16-year sentence that he is currently serving for aggravated robbery.
Kyla Dubberstein said at Crawford’s sentencing hearing that Beaman was her only child, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
“This plea agreement means my son’s loved ones, our family and my husband and I are spared from having to listen to the horrific details or seeing graphic images of the brutality that took place,” Dubberstein said in the news release.
“We may never know all the details, but the defendant does. I hope it haunts him every day for the rest of his life like it does me.”
Crawford is incarcerated at the Bent County Correctional Facility, the news release said.
Bock pleaded guilty to being an accessory to a crime in September 2023 and was given a four-year deferred prison sentence.
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