Man Who Buried Roomate's Body In Apartment Wall Sentenced To 11 Years

A California man who bludgeoned his roommate to death was sentenced to 11 years in prison by the Los Angeles County District Attorney on Tuesday, as the roommate’s body was discovered hidden behind a wall 6 years after she went missing.

Randolph E. Garbutt, 47, pleaded guilty on Sept. 12 for manslaughter in the death of Raven Campbell, who had been missing since June 2009.

Campbell’s body was found behind a wall at a residence in the 26800 block of Western Avenue in unincorporated Lomita, a complex where they both lived. Police searched the place after an anonymous caller had tipped Campbell’s parents about the location of her body.

Garbutt told investigators that Campbell slipped and fell in the apartment. However, he was afraid that he would be blamed for it, so he put a plastic bag overhead and choked her to death, a media report from 2016 said.

Garbutt had lived with Campbell in the apartment with two other people.

According to police, neighbors had complained about the odor for years. Campbell had died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to autopsy reports. Police said that Garbutt used a hammer to kill her.

According to family members, the victim was mentally challenged and had a son, NBC Los Angeles said.

In a similar incident, Luisa Ines Cutting, 21, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to killing her roommate Alexa Connors, 20. Ines who stabbed Connors to death said she was doing cocaine with the devil to interrogators. Police could not find any concrete motive behind the murder. However, the accused had consumed cocaine mushrooms, Xanax, marijuana, and alcohol before committing the crime.