A West Chicago, Ill. man was sentenced Monday to life in prison in the 2009 murder of an 82-year-old gun collector and former Illinois State Rifle Association vice president.
Terry Bratcher, 45, was convicted in September in the murder of Carl Kuhn, his former attorney. Prosecutors argued that Bratcher blindfolded and then suffocated Kuhn with a pillow in his home near Bartlett, the Daily Herald reports. He, along with Keith Allen of Chicago, allegedly proceeded to ransack the home and stole more than 40 firearms and a number of collectible coins.
Allen is currently serving a 46-year prison sentence for his role in the murder, robbery and home invasion, the Chicago Tribune reports. Prosecutors in the case argued the two had planned to sell the weapons for drug money, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The life sentence was presented as an option in the trial because the jury found the murder to be "exceptionally brutal or heinous."
"While today’s sentence cannot bring Mr. Kuhn back to those who loved him and miss him, perhaps it will allow them to move forward with their lives and their memories of Mr. Kuhn," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin, the case's prosecutor, said of the case, as reported by the Daily Herald.
Relatives of Bratcher disagreed with the sentence and, according to the Sun-Times, felt his sentence should have been on par with Allen's.