Jonny Braning, 48
Jonny Braning did a hilarious impression of Elvis.
Though he was deaf and mute, the 48-year-old man had lived a full life.
The simple pleasures Jonny lived for — seeing his granddaughter and making people smile — were all taken from him between Feb. 26 and March 7, 2002, when someone bludgeoned him to death in his small Aurora apartment.
Robbery may have been the intent, according to a story by former Rocky Mountain News reporter Sarah Huntley.
But it was hard for investigators to understand why.
Jonny was living on disability and didn’t have much money, Huntley reported.
Over the years he had worked for King Soopers, Jolly Rancher and as a janitor for a telecommunications company.
But he was unemployed and lived on his monthly disability check. He would go to a corner store and write a note for a clerk when he needed something.
He lived in a small apartment at 1097 S. Evanston Way.
It appeared that whoever killed Jonny first attacked him in his bedroom, possibly with some type of blunt weapon, which was never found.
Apparently a battle continued into his living room.
His body was found lying on the floor in his living room by maintenance workers who became worried when they realized they hadn’t seen the man, who was a fixture of the complex, in days.
The carpet was soaked with blood.