On Tuesday, a Ponchatoula man was ordered to spend 40 years in prison for the execution-style killing of Brooke Buchler, a Slidell waitress whose body was dumped at the old Bywater naval depot in 2020. Dylan Craddock, 32, took a plea that shielded him from a potential life sentence and leaves him unable to even seek parole for at least two decades. The sentence marks a grim but long-awaited milestone for family and friends who had been pressing for answers since the day she vanished.
Judge Robin Pittman handed down the 40-year term after Craddock pleaded guilty to manslaughter, obstruction of justice, being a felon in possession of a firearm and conspiracy to commit murder, according to NOLA.com. The plea agreement knocked down the slate of charges he once faced but still leaves him looking at decades behind bars. Prosecutors say his co-defendant, Cody Matthews, already has a sentencing date set for April 9, 2026. Court filings and sentencing documents reviewed by the outlet state that Craddock must serve at least 20 years before he can be considered for parole.
Discovery at the Bywater naval depot
Buchler was found dead inside a dilapidated building at the former Naval Support Activity site in the 4400 block of Dauphine Street on Aug. 23, 2020. Authorities said she had been shot in the back of the head, and the coroner ruled her death a homicide, according to reporting at the time by WVUE. The grim scene set off a multiagency investigation that quickly linked her killing to an earlier violent attack in St. Tammany Parish.
How investigators say they built the case
Prosecutors told reporters that cell phone records placed Craddock near the abandoned depot on the night Buchler disappeared, and photos found on his phone showed him and Matthews at the building about a week before her body turned up, according to NOLA.com. Investigators also point to a recorded call in which Matthews admitted being present when Craddock killed Buchler and said he knew where the murder weapon could be found. Detectives say the survival of a man who had been beaten and left for dead in St. Tammany helped propel the investigation forward.
A case that stretched across parishes
Slidell police say the chain of events started with a near-fatal beating at an apartment in the 1800 block of Fifth Street. Craddock and Matthews were arrested in that case before New Orleans detectives later tied both men to Buchler’s disappearance, local reporting shows, according to WDSU. Indictments filed in Orleans Parish eventually included murder and related counts before Craddock chose to accept a plea that reduced some of the charges he was facing.
Matthews remains indicted in the killing and is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on April 9, 2026. Prosecutors say they plan to lay out the evidence gathered over the course of the sprawling, multi-jurisdictional investigation. For Buchler’s loved ones, Tuesday’s sentence delivers a hard-fought measure of accountability after years of agonizing uncertainty.
