A 65-year-old man who killed his ex-wife, Martha Huffman, with a brick outside her Chula Vista home was sentenced July 9 to 25 years to life in prison as his son looked on.
“It’s a very brutal murder,” said Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Garry Haehnle as he was sentencing Rand Eugene Huffman.
Huffman, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, said nothing before he was sentenced. Martha Huffman, 63, was injured Feb. 26, 2014, and died April 13, 2014, without ever gaining consciousness from blunt force trauma.
“The loss of my mother is impossible to put in words. My father robbed a lot of people when he took her life,” said Corle Huffman in a statement afterward.
“I miss my mother and think about her every day. I wish I would have had at least one last chance to speak with her,” said Corle Huffman. “I visited my mother every day but one for the 46 days she was in the hospital … but she never woke up.”
Regarding the prison sentence of his father, Corle Huffman said: “I hope he is somehow able to make his peace with his terrible actions. Even though it took my father a little over a year, ultimately, I am proud of him for admitting his guilt and accepting his punishment.”
“My thanks goes out to the Chula Vista Police Department and San Diego District Attorney’s Office for their thoroughness and professionalism in resolving this case,” the son said.
Deputy District Attorney Mary Loeb said Rand and Martha Huffman divorced over 30 years ago and she may not have recognized him when he attacked her that morning. He dragged her behind her Twin Oaks Circle home and smashed a brick into her head repeatedly.
Neighbors heard Martha Huffman’s screams, and police arrived while Huffman was still at the scene. In 2012, Corle Huffman and his father had invested in some property in Vista, but his father sued him and the son got a restraining order against his father, according to court records.
Haehnle gave Huffman credit for 499 days in jail and fined him $10,224. The fine will be paid from deductions from any prison earnings or a percentage of money placed on his account.
