Born
25 Jul 1961, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut

Death
26 Jan 1983, Seal Beach, Orange County, California

Tragically, Eric Church was one of the victims of California serial murderer, Randy Kraft. who was convicted of murdering 16 men and boys between 1972 and 1983 and is on death row for his crimes. He was known as the “Scorecard Killer.” He was known to have killed at least another 51 young men and boys and is the most prolific serial murderer in California history.

Church’s body was discovered off the shoulder of the 7th Street on-ramp to Interstate 605 Freeway. Church was found sodomized, bludgeoned and strangled. Semen on the Church’s body was matched to Kraft’s blood type. Church had alcohol and diazepam in his system. Church’s electric razor was found in Kraft’s garage identified by his Church’s father. He had been hitchhiking around the United States. Investigators say the photo found in Kraft’s car, though his face was not shown is that of Church. No handwritten code was entered into Kraft’s Scorecard for Church.

Published in The Hartford Courant, Feb 26, 1983
Before Eric H. Church left home in Coventry to travel across country more than five years ago, his father Clayton, gave him an electric shaver he purchased at a flea market for $1. Last month, Clayton Church traveled 3,000 miles to Santa Ana, Calif., to identify that shaver, which has become a key piece of evidence in the trial of a California man accused of strangling Eric Church and killing 15 other young men. Randy Kraft, a 43-year-old computer analyst, is accused of killing the 16 young men between 1972 and 1983. He was arrested on the San Diego Freeway in 1983 after a body of a U. S. Marine was found in his car. Clayton and Liz Church have waited more than five years for the man accused of killing their son to go to trial. And they want to see Kraft die in the gas chamber. “I feel contempt for him, I guess,” Clayton Church said in an interview Friday in the kitchen of his Coventry home. “I know I’d like to get my hands on him.” The Churches saw Kraft in 1983 during a hearing, and for the second time when they traveled to the Orange County courthouse Oct 6 for Kraft’s trial, at which Clayton Church testified. Clayton Church identified the shaver before the 20-member jury and dozens of spectators. Though the shaver could have belonged to anyone, Church said he could identify this one because he left an identifying mark on it. When he bought the shaver, the plug had been loose, and it had not been working properly. “I took it apart and I knotted the wire inside so it wouldn’t pull out,” Church said. He told the jury the shaver found in Kraft’s possession belonged to Eric. Authorities found the shaver in Kraft’s house, and they believe Church was carrying it in a backpack when he was picked up by Kraft while hitchhiking in January 1983. “He (Eric) had it in his backpack with all the stuff in it,” Church recalled Friday. Prosecutors contend that a maroon fiber found on the arm of another victim came from socks Eric Church was wearing when his body was found. They also say a picture of a young man’s body found in Kraft’s car is of Church, although the man’s face cannot be seen. Though Liz Church went to Santa Ana with her husband, she was unable to sit in the courtroom as gruesome pictures of her son’s body were displayed on a large screen. “I thought I could take it, but I couldn’t. It’s not like TV where you know it’s make-believe,” she said. Even now she finds it difficult to talk about her son’s slaying. “I keep it pretty much to myself,” she said, her eyes downcast. But there are many reminders of their son, whom they described as a free-spirit who loved to travel. Scattered about their home on Edgemere Road in Coventry are pictures of Eric’s 21st birthday party, his last, and family pictures with their four other children. “He was friendly. He got along with anyone,” Clayton Church said. “He liked to go and didn’t like to be tied down.” Kraft’s trial is one of the largest serial murder cases to go before a jury, California court officials said. Prosecutors have presented evidence in 11 of the slayings, and it will be at least another month before the defense begins its case. Kraft has maintained his innocence. Eric Church was one of the last victims to be found before Kraft’s arrest. Prosecutors also say the Church case is one of the strongest they have of the 16 which are being tried together. Police also found a coded list called “the death list” in Kraft’s car, which they allege is a log of many of the victims. Some of the victims were sexually assaulted and tortured, police said. Church was not. “It’s hard to believe anyone could do something like that to all those people,” Clayton Church said, anger mounting in his voice. Family members of other victims Kraft is accused of slaying offered support to the Churches when they were in court, they said. Liz and Clayton Church said they plan to keep in touch with some of those families. They have also complied dozens of newspaper clippings from California to Connecticut about their son’s slaying. Bob Worthen, an investigator for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office who worked on the case, said if Kraft is convicted of two or more of the slayings, he could be sentenced to death. The Churches say they will monitor Kraft’s trial, which started in early September and is expected to go on for months. “I don’t have much doubt that he’ll be convicted,” Clayton Church said. “If for some reason he wasn’t, I’m sure he’ll be taken care of in some way or another.