Larry Cragun gets life sentence in fatal hammer attack

A Sandpoint man was sentenced Tuesday to serve life in prison for a December 2010 hammer attack that killed one person and injured three others.

Larry W. Cragun, 32, will serve 30 years of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole, Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said in a news release.

Cragun has a history of mental illness and admitted he killed Patricia A. Heath, 43, in an attack on Dec. 19, 2010, in a mobile home near Bayview.

In addition to killing Heath, Cragun also seriously injured Heath’s mother-in-law, Lorraine Wallis, Wallis’ son Michael L. Heath and her grandson Jedidiah M. Heath.

Cragun lived in a trailer about 75 feet away and had engaged the victims in an ongoing dispute by reporting bizarre harassment claims that authorities later said were unfounded.

On the day of the attack, the family was watching television when Cragun burst into their home carrying a large kitchen knife and hammer, police said.

He called them a profane name and attacked, according to police.

Patricia Heath died the next day at Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene.

Wallis has undergone several surgeries on her skull and requires continuing care.

Cragun has an extensive criminal history including a felony assault conviction in Alaska in 2003 and felony domestic-violence convictions in Washington and Idaho in 2004.