A 45-year-old man who was beaten and stabbed to death in September was good-natured and had a talent for home improvement projects, music and making people laugh, his four sisters said Friday.

But Chris Rose's brutal death at the hands of two homeless men — coupled with the fact that he lived for as long as a few hours after the men left him to die in the Santa Fe River — torments the women, they said during a sentencing hearing for the man accused of stabbing their brother to death.

"It's constantly in our minds," said his sister, Deborah Rose. "We will never get over this."

Therese Hammer, another sister, said she was "absolutely devastated" by her brother's murder.

"I feel like the walking wounded (or) an emotional zombie," she said. "I can't get it together. I just can't believe I'm speaking about him in the past tense."

Finally, a third sister, Laurie Leach, said she yearned to know why the crime occurred.

"I can't stop asking myself why," she said. "What did he do to make them so mad?"

Scott Claybaugh, who was sentenced Friday to 26 years, plus two years of parole after release, told police he was walking downtown with Rose and another man, Richard Eastman, at about 11 p.m. Sept. 5 when Rose began harassing people, which almost entangled the men in a fight. When the men reached DeVargas Park, Claybaugh and Eastman began beating and kicking Rose, and Claybaugh hit Rose over the head with his own guitar, according to previously filed court documents.

The men then dragged Rose to the nearby riverbed, placed him face-down in the shallow water and Claybaugh began stabbing him repeatedly. Rose was stabbed in his neck, head, back and shoulder — more than 10 individual stab wounds, according to prosecutor Krishna Singh. His throat was repeatedly slashed, said Deborah Rose, who read from her brother's autopsy report.

Eastman, 40, pleaded guilty a week ago to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, aggravated battery and tampering with evidence and faces up to nine years in prison. He is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation in Los Lunas. Claybaugh, 41, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Rose grew up the youngest of six children in Silver Lake, Penn., and Binghamton, N.Y., said Sheri Rose, another sister. When he was born, his sisters used to fight over who got to take care of him, said Deborah Rose.

He grew up to be a talented musician, carpenter and stone mason who frequently helped his sisters landscape and remodel their homes, they said. Once he even loaned Deborah Rose $8,000 to pay off her bills, she said. More importantly, the was also a free spirit who happily lived according to his own whims, Deborah Rose said.

"Chris simply made us happy," she said. "He enjoyed life to the fullest."

Sheri Rose said her brother came to Santa Fe at the beginning of the summer, though he'd spent most of the last 2 1/2 years staying at her home in Belen. Deborah Rose said he was "proud to be accepted as a local musician" here and told her he was "having the summer of his life," she said.

Therese Hammer also took issue with previous characterizations of her brother as "homeless."

"He was not homeless," she said. "He was not a vagrant. He was just between situations."

Deborah Rose said her brother had "moved to DeVargas Park" before his death. "At the time of the murder, he was living exactly how he wanted," she said.

Both Claybaugh, who was previously convicted of both commercial and residential burglary, and his lawyer, Dan Marlowe, declined to speak to the court.

"Your actions were just horrific," state District Judge Michael Vigil told Claybaugh. "I think you have earned every day I can give you."

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.