Sonora, CA — A 35-year-old Sonora man has been sentenced to 26 years to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder.
Thomas Brawand was convicted last month in the beating death of 57-year-old Richard Bray in April.
Defense attorneys had been pushing for a second-degree murder or manslaughter conviction after Brawand admitted to the murder during the trial.
Brawand said he became enraged when Bray supposedly made advances on Brawand´s girl friend.
Prosecutors maintained that Brawand intended to rob Bray and leave town to avoid going to jail for a previous drug charge.
Contact Eric Nelson at Eric Nelson
This post was last modified on 02/23/2018 12:45 pm