Accused newlyweds killer avoids death penalty
TACOMA, Wash. -- Pierce County Prosecutor Gerry Horne on Wednesday said he is taking the death penalty off the table in exchange for a guilty plea and life in prison without possibility of parole for Daniel Tavares in the shooting deaths of a young couple.
Horne made the announcement at news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Daniel Thomas Tavares Jr., 41, will plead guilty to two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in the Nov. 17 killings of Brian and Beverly Mauck in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of release - the only possible sentence besides execution.
Relatives of the Maucks who attended the news conference said they supported Horne's decision and that it will be a huge relief not to have to sit through years of appeals.
"I'm elated. My family is elated," said Brian's sister, Jennifer Heibrun. "I think this gives us the opportunity to close this very sad chapter of our life and start to try to move forward a little bit."
Beverly's mother, Karen Slater, said putting Tavares to death would have been giving him an easy out for what he's done.
"I didn't want him to be free of suffering," she said. "I want him to suffer until he dies. I think this is the best decision possible. I support the prosecutor, Jerry Horne."
Other family members who did support the death penalty were not at the conference.
Tavares initially pleaded not guilty to the killings, which investigators say were motivated by an insult and a $50 debt.
As part of the agreement, Tavares will waive all appeals, and his attorneys will certify that he is competent to enter the plea, Horne said. No court hearing has been set, and defense lawyer Judy Mandel did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Horne said he is typically cautious about bargaining with the death penalty for fear of unfairly pressuring defendants to plead guilty. But in this case, the evidence was overwhelming and the victims' families agreed with it, he said.
"They were very supportive of moving this thing along and getting it over with so they don't have to relive it over and over again," Horne said.
Horne also said he appreciated the defense team's forthrightness in seeking a plea deal to spare their client's life, rather than embarking on a drawn-out - and extremely expensive - legal fight based on Tavares' long history of mental health problems.
"There are indications he is bipolar, depressive ... so there are things they could have gamed us on," Horne said. "If he chose to game us and put us to the test, we would have taken that test ... and there's a strong likelihood the death penalty would have been sought.
"We have some responsibility to be good stewards of the tax resources that are out there," he added.
Tavares was released from prison in Massachusetts in June after serving a 16-year manslaughter sentence for killing his mother.
Prosecutors there had tried to keep Tavares behind bars for allegedly assaulting two prison guards near the end of his sentence, but a judge released him.
He moved to Graham and lived next to the Maucks, who were found shot to death in their own home.
Tavares initially told investigators he heard gunshots while he was in bed with his wife at their home. He also described two men and a red truck he said he saw outside. "These various statements were later acknowledged to be lies," prosecutors said in the charging papers.
His wife, Jennifer Tavares, has been charged with rendering criminal assistance, a gross misdemeanor, for lying to investigators. She initially told police her husband was with her when they heard gunfire.
Only Charles Campbell, Westley Allen Dodd, Jeremy Sagastegui, and Robert Elledge have been put to death in Washington since the penalty was reinstated in the late 1970s.
Horne made the announcement at news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Daniel Thomas Tavares Jr., 41, will plead guilty to two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in the Nov. 17 killings of Brian and Beverly Mauck in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of release - the only possible sentence besides execution.
Relatives of the Maucks who attended the news conference said they supported Horne's decision and that it will be a huge relief not to have to sit through years of appeals.
"I'm elated. My family is elated," said Brian's sister, Jennifer Heibrun. "I think this gives us the opportunity to close this very sad chapter of our life and start to try to move forward a little bit."
Beverly's mother, Karen Slater, said putting Tavares to death would have been giving him an easy out for what he's done.
"I didn't want him to be free of suffering," she said. "I want him to suffer until he dies. I think this is the best decision possible. I support the prosecutor, Jerry Horne."
Other family members who did support the death penalty were not at the conference.
Tavares initially pleaded not guilty to the killings, which investigators say were motivated by an insult and a $50 debt.
As part of the agreement, Tavares will waive all appeals, and his attorneys will certify that he is competent to enter the plea, Horne said. No court hearing has been set, and defense lawyer Judy Mandel did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Horne said he is typically cautious about bargaining with the death penalty for fear of unfairly pressuring defendants to plead guilty. But in this case, the evidence was overwhelming and the victims' families agreed with it, he said.
"They were very supportive of moving this thing along and getting it over with so they don't have to relive it over and over again," Horne said.
Horne also said he appreciated the defense team's forthrightness in seeking a plea deal to spare their client's life, rather than embarking on a drawn-out - and extremely expensive - legal fight based on Tavares' long history of mental health problems.
"There are indications he is bipolar, depressive ... so there are things they could have gamed us on," Horne said. "If he chose to game us and put us to the test, we would have taken that test ... and there's a strong likelihood the death penalty would have been sought.
"We have some responsibility to be good stewards of the tax resources that are out there," he added.
Tavares was released from prison in Massachusetts in June after serving a 16-year manslaughter sentence for killing his mother.
Prosecutors there had tried to keep Tavares behind bars for allegedly assaulting two prison guards near the end of his sentence, but a judge released him.
He moved to Graham and lived next to the Maucks, who were found shot to death in their own home.
Tavares initially told investigators he heard gunshots while he was in bed with his wife at their home. He also described two men and a red truck he said he saw outside. "These various statements were later acknowledged to be lies," prosecutors said in the charging papers.
His wife, Jennifer Tavares, has been charged with rendering criminal assistance, a gross misdemeanor, for lying to investigators. She initially told police her husband was with her when they heard gunfire.
Only Charles Campbell, Westley Allen Dodd, Jeremy Sagastegui, and Robert Elledge have been put to death in Washington since the penalty was reinstated in the late 1970s.