Colorado man sentenced for killing longtime friend and burying his remains in crawl space

AURORA, Colo. (TCN) -- A 40-year-old man will spend three decades behind bars for killing his friend and burying his body in a crawl space with help from his girlfriend.

According to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Haskel Crawford pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with Karl Beaman Jr.’s death. A judge sentenced him on April 17 to 30 years in prison. The term will be served consecutively to a 16-year sentence Crawford is already serving for a separate aggravated robbery case out of Jefferson County.

Beaman’s mother called the Aurora Police Department to report her son missing after she last heard from him in May 2022. She reportedly began working to find her son on her own and started a Facebook page.

According to prosecutors, a tipster sent a private message to the page, claiming Beaman was "buried in an apartment crawl space underneath concrete." The tipster reportedly said Casie Bock and her boyfriend, Crawford, killed the victim "because they believed he was a 'police informant' in a pending criminal case." The district attorney’s office noted that the defendant and victim had been friends for a long time.

Police searched Bock’s apartment and found Beaman’s decomposed body in a crawl space through her bedroom. Bock later admitted that she helped the defendant place the victim into the crawl space after Crawford killed him. She pleaded guilty to being an accessory to a crime and received a deferred judgement in 2023.

During Crawford’s sentencing hearing, Beaman’s mother said, "He murdered my only child. 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. 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."

Deputy District Attorney Michele Fuller added, "Mr. Beaman died in the hands of someone he considered his best friend and brother of nearly two decades. We are pleased with the judge’s decision to sentence the defendant to the maximum prison sentence outlined in the plea agreement."

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