Man’s second trial ends in conviction for wife’s murder

A Lake Havasu City man was convicted Friday of first-degree murder in the July 2010 shooting death of his estranged wife.

The jury deliberated two hours before returning the guilty verdict in a second trial for Jeffrey Cravets, 39.

Another jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction during Cravets’ first trial last November. The defendant said he found the body of his wife in the kitchen of the home they once shared.

Prosecutor Jeremy Huss said that Judy Cravets, 45, suffered seven gunshot wounds and that Jeffrey Cravets invented the story about finding her dead.

Huss said that the couple had a volatile relationship and that Cravets spent 10 days in jail for abusing his wife during a fight before the homicide.

Huss said Judy Cravets began a relationship with a mutual friend while her husband was in custody and asked for a divorce shortly before the murder.

Cravets faces a life prison term when sentenced March 8 in Kingman.