GREAT FALLS — A Montana man who was convicted of killing a disabled veteran in February 2016, burying his body in the dirt floor of a barn and stealing his disability benefits was sentenced on Friday to 110 years in prison.
Brandon Craft, of Great Falls, will not be eligible for parole until he serves 50 years, District Judge Elizabeth Best ruled.
Craft’s ex-wife Katelyn Zdeb pleaded guilty in April 2018 to stealing Adam Petzack’s Veterans Affairs benefits for several months after his death. She testified against Craft at his trial in November and was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison with no time suspended.
During the investigation into Petzack’s disappearance, investigators found Craft and Zdeb set up a credit card reader account and used Petzack’s debit card to steal $1,400 of his benefits over a three-month period.
Petzack’s remains were found in August 2016 after Craft confessed to shooting him in the head and burying him on property where Craft had lived outside Great Falls. Craft drew a map for investigators.
Petzack, 28, served as a mechanic in the Army from April 2006 to September 2009 and deployed to Iraq from October 2007 to January 2009.
His mother told the Great Falls Tribune that he suffered a traumatic brain injury after an improvised explosive device detonated in the middle of a baseball game while he was serving in Mosul.