GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - A 4-year-old murder case has been solved with the help of an animal abuse investigation.
     
Detectives searching for evidence in the shooting death of Charles Krugle Jr. had served a search warrant at the home of Karen Kanuch, the mother of their prime suspect, Brian Kanuch, based on complaints about the care of cats and birds.
     
The detectives found the gun used to shoot Krugle in the back as he sat at his kitchen table in his home about seven miles west of Grants Pass.
     
Brian Kanuch, 42, had been awaiting trial but decided to plead guilty to aggravated murder after the gun was found.
     
The discovery of the gun "had a big bearing" on the murder case, said Lisa Turner, Josephine County chief deputy district attorney.
     
Kanuch was sentenced Monday to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years.
     
Krugle, 68, a retired heavy equipment company owner from San Diego, Calif., had evicted Kanuch from a Grants Pass rental home several weeks before the May 2004 shooting.
     
Krugle's home also was burglarized after he was shot.
     
Prosecutors said Kanuch admitted to several people he had killed his landlord before he was arrested in 2005.
     
Kanuch also had a 2003 conviction for methamphetamine possession.
     
Kanuch's mother, Karen, 66, has pleaded guilty to animal abuse charges and is awaiting sentencing.
     
Dead cats and birds were found at her home during the search that turned up the gun. About 20 cats lived on the property, investigators said.
     
Photographs submitted to the court depicted conditions of a home littered with piles of trash, a dead bird on its back, and kitty litter boxes with mounds of feces.
     
Investigators learned about the animals after speaking with a couple who were working as caretakers of Karen Kanuch's property, according to the court filings. The couple initially provided information possibly related to the murder case.
     
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)