Man gets life in prison for quadruple homicide
SEATTLE -- After years of back-and-forth rulings regarding his mental competency, a man accused of killing a cheerleader, her boyfriend and his grandparents pleaded guilty Tuesday and was sentenced to life in prison.
Leemah Carneh was charged with four counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Josie Peterson - an Evergreen High School cheerleader prosecutors say Carneh was obsessed with - her boyfriend, Taelor Marks, and his grandparents, Richard and Leola Larson.
Their bodies were found March 9, 2001, in the Larsons' Des Moines home.
Investigators said Carneh, who was 19 at the time, gunned down Marks' grandparents, hid their bodies and then waited for Peterson and Marks.
The original charges against Carneh were dismissed in October, 2005, after doctors diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia and a judge ruled that he was not competent to stand trial. Carneh was committed to Western State Hospital.
Prosecutors refilled murder charges in 2007 after Western State officials determined Carneh was doing well enough that he could be moved to a ward where he would not be constantly supervised and could earn permission to leave the hospital grounds.
In November, 2008, Carneh was again ruled incompetent to stand trial and was sent back to Western State Hospital for 180 days treatment. In July 2009 a judge ruled that Carneh was competent to stand trial and charges were refiled.
In King County Superior Court on Tuesday, Judge Palmer Robinson said Carneh is mentally competent to make the decision to plead guilty.
Carneh's attorney argued that his client remains incompetent and that his decision was guided by delusions and psychosis. But Carneh said he is responsible for the killings and understands he'll spend the rest of his life in prison.
For the families of the victims, the ruling brought to an end more than eight years of ever-changing competency hearings and a seemingly endless wait for justice.
Lorraine Marks, daughter of Jane Larson, said she still misses her mom terribly.
"My mom, Jane, was my best friend," she said. "The very thought of her being stomped into the floor and shot twice point-blank in the head hurts my soul.
Of her son, Taelor, she said, "My gentle sweet boy who I loved more than life itself was shot to death and then stabbed and beaten after death.
"I not only lost my family, I lost my place in the world," Lorraine Marks said.
Mary Marrero, Josie Peterson's mother, said the sentencing brings only some closure.
"Every day I wake, I want to die," she said. "I would have taken my life when notified that my daughter was dead rather than have taken 8 1/2 years of pain."
For the family members, Carneh had no words of apology, no explanation.
When the judge asked whether he'd like to say anything, Carneh said, "I don't have anything to say."
Carneh will serve four life sentences to run one after the other. The victims' family members said justice is little consolation for the grief they live with.
"A little, not a whole lot. It's good. I hope he rots in jail," Marrero said.
Carneh's lawyer, Louis Frantz, filed a notice indicating he plans to appeal the plea and sentence.
"Mr. Carneh's mental illness is inextricably linked to this offense," Frantz said. "But for his mental illness this never would have happened."
Leemah Carneh was charged with four counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Josie Peterson - an Evergreen High School cheerleader prosecutors say Carneh was obsessed with - her boyfriend, Taelor Marks, and his grandparents, Richard and Leola Larson.
Their bodies were found March 9, 2001, in the Larsons' Des Moines home.
Investigators said Carneh, who was 19 at the time, gunned down Marks' grandparents, hid their bodies and then waited for Peterson and Marks.
The original charges against Carneh were dismissed in October, 2005, after doctors diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia and a judge ruled that he was not competent to stand trial. Carneh was committed to Western State Hospital.
Prosecutors refilled murder charges in 2007 after Western State officials determined Carneh was doing well enough that he could be moved to a ward where he would not be constantly supervised and could earn permission to leave the hospital grounds.
In November, 2008, Carneh was again ruled incompetent to stand trial and was sent back to Western State Hospital for 180 days treatment. In July 2009 a judge ruled that Carneh was competent to stand trial and charges were refiled.
In King County Superior Court on Tuesday, Judge Palmer Robinson said Carneh is mentally competent to make the decision to plead guilty.
Carneh's attorney argued that his client remains incompetent and that his decision was guided by delusions and psychosis. But Carneh said he is responsible for the killings and understands he'll spend the rest of his life in prison.
For the families of the victims, the ruling brought to an end more than eight years of ever-changing competency hearings and a seemingly endless wait for justice.
Lorraine Marks, daughter of Jane Larson, said she still misses her mom terribly.
"My mom, Jane, was my best friend," she said. "The very thought of her being stomped into the floor and shot twice point-blank in the head hurts my soul.
Of her son, Taelor, she said, "My gentle sweet boy who I loved more than life itself was shot to death and then stabbed and beaten after death.
"I not only lost my family, I lost my place in the world," Lorraine Marks said.
Mary Marrero, Josie Peterson's mother, said the sentencing brings only some closure.
"Every day I wake, I want to die," she said. "I would have taken my life when notified that my daughter was dead rather than have taken 8 1/2 years of pain."
For the family members, Carneh had no words of apology, no explanation.
When the judge asked whether he'd like to say anything, Carneh said, "I don't have anything to say."
Carneh will serve four life sentences to run one after the other. The victims' family members said justice is little consolation for the grief they live with.
"A little, not a whole lot. It's good. I hope he rots in jail," Marrero said.
Carneh's lawyer, Louis Frantz, filed a notice indicating he plans to appeal the plea and sentence.
"Mr. Carneh's mental illness is inextricably linked to this offense," Frantz said. "But for his mental illness this never would have happened."