BUTTE COUNTY, CA (MPG) - The 42-year-old Oroville man accused of the murder of an elderly woman in her Oroville home, was sentenced in Butte County Superior Court to a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Brian Scott Madding, an Oroville transient, had previously plead to a charge of first degree murder and admitted the murder was committed during the commission of a first degree burglary. District Attorney Mike Ramsey said he hoped justice would prevail and Madding would die behind bars.

Ramsey said Madding killed Greta Jayne Putnam, 86, during the late night of November 7, 2018 after he broke into her home in a senior mobile home park in 2300 block of 5th Avenue in Oroville.  Her body was found in her bed the next morning by her caretaker who came to the home. Ramsey said the slaying was brutal as Madding stabbed Mrs. Putnam at least five times. Some of her wounds were defensive, indicating she attempted to fight off her attacker as she woke up to find Madding in her bedroom. The fatal wound was a deep stab wound to her neck.

Ramsey said the state Department of Justice was able to find a fingerprint at the crime scene that matched Madding. Once that information was developed, a warrant was issued for Madding’s arrest. During questioning by then Oroville Police detective sergeant Joe Deal (now chief of police) and detective Ray Stott, Madding admitted to killing Mrs. Putnam as she stirred in her bed during the course of his burglarizing her home for money or other items to trade for illegal drugs.

Ramsey praised the work of his senior supervising deputy district attorney Elizabeth Norton along with Deal and Stott in putting together a case that left Madding little choice other than to admit his guilt despite his earlier court attempts to feign legal insanity and to deny his guilt. Ramsey said Madding admitted his crime and plead no contest on the day a jury was being selected for his trial last month.