Swanton man who dismembered wife released from prison

A deputy sheriff cuffs Thomas Craft after he pleaded in Fulton County Courthouse in Wauseon in September, 1999, on one count but will go to court on other counts concerning murdering his wife and cutting her up.

A Swanton man who was convicted of murdering and dismembering his wife in 1999 was released from prison Monday, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokesman JoEllen Smith said.

Thomas Craft, 48, will remain in Ohio at a halfway house in Allen County.

Craft killed his wife, Lynnette Craft, 37, inside their Swanton home and then discarded her body parts across Michigan. With a plea deal reached with the Mrs. Craft’s family, Craft was sentenced to 12 years at the North Central Correctional Institute in Marion — 10 years for murder and one each for abuse of a corpse and possession of criminal tools.

Mrs. Craft’s younger brother, Bob Quast, and her two children, Chris and Brian Craft, began a grass-roots effort to keep Craft from leaving Ohio upon his release from prison. Craft, according to Mr. Quast, had planned to move to Wisconsin, where his sons live.