Lawyers for accused cop killer plan to use insanity defense
SEATTLE -- The lawyers for accused cop killer Christopher Monfort are planning an insanity defense for their client.
Monfort's lawyers filed their notice of intent in King County Court on Friday.
Monfort is accused of gunning down Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton as Brenton sat in his patrol car on Halloween night in 2009. He's also charged with the attempted murder of training officer Britt Sweeney.
In addition, Monfort is charged with first-degree arson in connection with the October 2009 fire-bombing of four Seattle police vehicles at a city maintenance yard.
Prosecutors allege Monfort was attempting to wage a one-man war against the Seattle Police Department. He was shot by officers during his arrest and is now paralyzed below the waist and confined to a wheelchair.
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg has said he will seek the death penalty if Monfort is convicted.
Monfort's lawyers filed their notice of intent in King County Court on Friday.
Monfort is accused of gunning down Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton as Brenton sat in his patrol car on Halloween night in 2009. He's also charged with the attempted murder of training officer Britt Sweeney.
In addition, Monfort is charged with first-degree arson in connection with the October 2009 fire-bombing of four Seattle police vehicles at a city maintenance yard.
Prosecutors allege Monfort was attempting to wage a one-man war against the Seattle Police Department. He was shot by officers during his arrest and is now paralyzed below the waist and confined to a wheelchair.
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg has said he will seek the death penalty if Monfort is convicted.
Hey Monfort, how's your back doing? Still think it was such a good idea to start a personal war with the police? Glad that you got that part of 'justice' but there may be a flu shot waiting to cure all your ails when this is all said and done.
I worked with Tim Brentonâs Dad, Boyd, for several years, and met Tim at a couple of company functions. Polite, intelligent and respectful, what youâd expect from a âproperâ upbringingâ¦â¦Â If Boyd can forgive this POS, then just whom am I to stand against the Brenton family, no matter how I personally feel?
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Fair Winds and Following Seas Officer Benton â you were a chip off the old block, and your Dad was very proud of you; that was evident way before I met you.
The only thing crazy here is the fact they are going for an insanity plea. What a joke.
I am pretty sure he is a nut job but legal insanity is different. I believe he knew what he was doing was wrong.
sheesh only paralyzed from the waist down...why in the hell can't we just finish the job and save the taxpayers their money! ... honestly this guy is not worth it!...and he'll cost a ton to incarcerate until the natural order of things takes care of the problem for us.... good grief... why these criminal's have to be saved only to take away from us all is beyond me!
Good god really!!! This was almost 4 years ago and he still hasn't been sentenced. No wonder we are so broke!!!
@tkyed I'm not positive, but I believe this has been put off partially because of his medical problems.
I hope the judge and jury are smart enough to see through the smoke and mirrors insanity defense.
If this crazy POS wants to try to kill himself, why are we stopping him? Â Save us some money and let the turd take care of himself.Â
Lazer Lobotomy.
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Execute him anyway...Â
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Good luck with that. I think his lawyers are using insanity no so much to avoid conviction but to avoid execution. A Seattle jury would think three times about sentancing a mental health patient to death.
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Nevertheless, I hope Satterberg prevails in the case this wretched, whining piece of waste is dealt with like the rabid dog he is.
if he gets death penalty in wa he will die of old age in prison or released because he has a hard ship. I am pleased that he suffers 24 hrs a day for his condition. He cost me and other tax payers money when he burnt those cars.
@patriot279 The police cars be damned, patriot. Monfort murdered one man and attempted to murder several others [the ride-along officer at Brenton's murder, the first responders at the car fires and the officers at his arrest]. All of these people are [or were] the 'serve society' types that are damned hard to replace.
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I want to see Monfort put down as much as you do, but don't be such a tax revolutionary as to think that costing taxpayers money for objects like cars somehow equates to murder. It doesn't and never has.
I hold KOMO and the October 22 coalition personally responsible for Officer Brenton's murder. They instigated this murder.
I believe he deserves the death penalty. No reason to keep him around and it would be justice in my mind.
wa will let him die of old age before he will be exterminated in wa state.
 @patriot279 Brilliant deduction Watson. Not any different than any other state with the death penalty. Not just this part of the system that's screwed up either. It's a joke from top to bottom just like our government. They should reform this broken system and put this waste of skin down asap along with many others.
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They're using the insanity defense because that's the only defense available. (And I think that one should not be available in most of these cases.)
I live in the apartment complex that Mr. Monfort was shot in.
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There are still a few of us who were here when they came knocking. They had helicopters over head, cops on the ground, had us locked down for hours (and I do mean HOURS).
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He casually let his two cats out (we, the neighbors spent months afterwards getting them back and giving them to his family) then he came out guns blazing.
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He got shot and paralyzed.
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He sits on TV and makes these rants and raves and drags this thing on like circus.
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Those of us who were here STILL have issues with overhead helicopters, still have issues when we hear shots going off (holy moly are those gun shots or firecrackers)?
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We still have issues and we will. Forever.
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Because one of our neighbors decided to be "holier than thou" and take on the cops his own way.
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Blowing up police vehicles and trying to take out as many cops as he could for whatever reason.
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Plus what they found in his apartment.
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THAT would have blown us ALL up for decades. There'd be HUGE crater and a VERY high loss of life.
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So, death. Not sure. Marked as crazy and put away FOREVER! Well, we'd like that.
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Just DON'T EVER let him out, again. EVER!
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Might not be just us, but I'd rather not see any of my friends and neighbors on the news because THEY decided to get back at HIM for the crap he caused US over HERE!
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Just my thoughts.
@Grey Wolfe I am sorry you have had to deal with all of this. no one should ever have to live in fear.
 @Grey Wolfe I am so sorry that you were victimized by this sociopath in your own home.
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I am generally for the death penalty, but I agree with you in this case that he should be locked away for the rest of his miserable existence counting the days until he can meet his maker.
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Such a waste all the way around.
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Good luck.
Don't waste the money on the death penalty. Let him rot in prison for decades.
 @Sanctuary Don't waste our tax dollars keeping a now paralyzed man (do you know the cost of keeping such an inmate? meds? docs? therapy?) in jail. The death penalty will be cheaper.
But sadly wa will not exterminate him. Look at the record for wa criminals gain wt say it will be cruel to be exterminated. Though no concern for the victim is given.
@k_did Actually, with all of the mandatory appeals associated with the death penalty, it will be at least 15 years and millions of dollars before this guy is put down. It is cheaper just to house them in prison for life. Besides, when the state agreed to spare Ridgeway's life, it effectively ended the death penalty in this state.
I said it before in the James Holmes case (Aurora theater shooting) but it bears repeating here:
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If Monfort is truly insane, put him in a mental hospital for, oh, say, the next 80 years, but there is no way in hell I would want this guy to ever be "deemed" sane at some point in the future and released.  The insanity defense has become too much of a temptation for defense attorneys and defendents. I'm sick of the whole "Gee, sorry, but I was temporarily insane at the time and didn't know what I was doing, but, hey, I'm just peachy keen fine now, thanks for asking, so I think I'll just be on my way" attitude.
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It's bad enough that this country does such a poor job of caring for our mentally ill citizens, but it's adding insult to injury to allow attorneys to use that fact to get cold-blooded killers out of long sentences by using the insanity defense (followed by a quick, miraculous "cure").
Oh no, not him again, don't want to see his face. What he did was just plain hateful and evil. Lock him up and throw away the key.
Of course he is insane, that doesn't mean he didn't know what he was doing.
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Personally, I wouldn't care if he was simply released to fend for himself. No charity or assistance from ANY tax-supported source. See how long he would last.
Insanity is NO defense. All human beings are insane to some degree. If you want to limit culpability you would have to take a million factors into consideration: upbringing, IQ, hormonal balance, religious beliefs, sugar levels, rest levels, you name it ...
Of COURSE they do. Too bad the officer that put this idiot in that wheelchair hadn't spent a LITTLE more time at the gun range. We wouldn't be reading about this insanity.
 @Harley-H.S.C.  How do you know he didn't already spend plenty of time at the range? If I remember right, he and his partner were sitting in their car and were ambushed by this piece of shi&! I don't know how you can prepare any better for that type of situation. Maybe you can enlighten the rest of us!
@Harley-H.S.C. Yea because you can shoot so accurately at a moving target in a high stress situtation while being shot at.
That officer was being fired upon at the time...