[District Attorney] – A 43-year-old Saugus man with a history of domestic violence was found guilty Thursday of murdering his girlfriend, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

The jury deliberated for about two hours before finding Eric Allen Earle (dob 5/27/71) guilty of killing his 31-year-old girlfriend, Karla Brada, two days before her birthday.

Sentencing for case PA072411 has been scheduled for Oct. 27 in Department N of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, San Fernando Branch.

Earle faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

On Sept. 1, 2011, the victim was found dead inside her condo, which she shared with Earle. Evidence presented at trial showed she was asphyxiated after being beaten by the defendant during a violent argument.

Earle had assaulted the victim on prior occasions and had also beaten his ex-wife, according to trial testimony.

The assigned prosecutor is Deputy District Attorney Elena Abramson.

The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

From a previous KHTS story:

In the opening statements, Deputy District Attorney Elena Abramson described Earle as an abusive, controlling boyfriend who beat his girlfriend in an argument ending with Brada’s death Sept. 1, 2011.

Eric Allen Earle

Earle’s attorney, David Arredondo, said the pair engaged in their “bad conduct” – methadone, amphetamines and alcohol were found in Brada’s system at the time of her death — and Brada’s death was caused by a lethal amount of methadone in her system.

Abramson opened with a picture of Brada, noting the victim would have turned 35 on Sept. 3, the day before jurors were to get their notice for service.

In early 2011, Brada and Earle met in an alcoholics anonymous meeting where both were struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. Within a few months, the two were living together in Brada’s two-bedroom condo in Saugus.

Karla Brada

The relationship quickly turned violent, Abramson contended, explaining in her opening remarks how Earle allegedly isolated Brada from her friends, while manipulating her and physically abusing her.

Arredondo declined to say whether Earle would testify on his own behalf during the trial.

He said his client had no reason to kill Brada and that he loved her, Arredondo said.

“Much of the case here will depend upon expert testimony,” Arredondo said, but adding if the justice system relied on experts alone, there would be no need for the jury.

“The conclusion here is death by asphyxiation,” Arredondo said. “The problem here is that, there’s also methadone.”