Krause charged with murder of 90-Year-Old Bross of Oceano

Today, Sheriff Ian Parkinson announced the arrest of David James Krause (41) of Grover Beach for the 2019 homicide of 90-year-old Lawrence Albert Bross of Oceano.

Bross’s body was discovered after the San Luis Obispo Sheriff Deputies were dispatched for a welfare check at his home in Oceano on Jan. 24, 2019.

According to Sheriff Parkinson, this case was the first of six homicide cases in 2019, which is highly unusual for San Luis Obispo County. Parkinson stated that typically the County reports zero to two homicides.

Parkinson said, “Krause was identified early on as a person of interest, however as I have stated many times before, it is not what you believe; it is what you can prove. So the work that was needed was in order to determine whether or not there was evidence linking the suspect to the crime. We had very few witnesses in this case, and the way we solve crimes are really through witnesses and physical evidence.”

He continued, “This case involved significant work with resulted in forensic evidence which clearly identified the suspect as being responsible for the crime.”

According to Parkinson, Krause was already in the Sheriff’s custody on an unrelated charge and was formally arrested on Wednesday, Apr. 8, for the murder of Bross.

Parkinson stated that this investigation was extremely detailed and time-consuming.

With the arrest of Krause, the Sheriff explained that he was the last arrest in the six homicide cases from 2019. All six cases have now been solved, with the persons responsible now facing court action.

Parkison ended by saying, “special thanks to our detectives that worked this case… spent countless hours spent in order to bring this case to justice…and a special note to the Bross family, we hope that this brings them some form of justice to them in a time of grief.”

Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth stated that the District Attorney’s office filed murder charges yesterday afternoon against Krause.

Dobroth explained that “the criminal complaint, in this case, alleges one charge, that charge is murder. It also alleges that during the commission of that murder that Mr. Krause personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon. Additionally, there are two enhancements charged; it is alleged that Mr. Krauss suffered two prior serious felonies under California’s three-strikes law. Those being residential burglaries in the first degree, one from 1998, the other more recent from 2016. As stated, Mr. Krause was presently in the custody of the San Luis Obispo County Jail on charges unrelated to this case as well, unrelated to this homicide. It is anticipated on-court input that Mr. Krause will be arraigned On Thursday, Apr. 15.”

According to Dobroth, no motive could be discussed at this time due to the case still being considered active.

After answering a few questions, the Press Conference concluded.

For a complete timeline of the case, read Timeline of 2019 Suspicious Death of 90-Year-Old Bross of Oceano