No death penalty for man who murdered wife, daughter
TACOMA, Wash. -- A man who murdered his wife and 11-year-old daughter will spend the rest of his life in prison, but will not face the death penalty, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Dean Holmes pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated first degree murder last week, leaving a judge the only choice of sentencing Holmes to life in prison without possibility of parole or the death penalty.
Prosecutors say they will ask Holmes receive two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
"Dean Holmes will be spending the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole," Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said in a statement released to the media. "I made this decision after consultation with leaders in the office. We took into account the severity of his crimes, his remorse as demonstrated by his surrender to law enforcement and expeditious plea of guilty, his lack of felony criminal history, the likelihood of the death penalty being upheld, and other factors."
He added he spoke with the family members of the victims and they were supportive of his decision.
"Balancing all considerations, I believe justice is achieved by two life sentences without the possibility of parole," Lindquist said.
The body of Holmes' wife Kristi and his daughter Violet were discovered in late August after Holmes walked into the Pierce County Jail early one morning and said he fatally shot his wife and child.
Prosecutors say Dean Holmes pulled a revolver from a dresser early the morning before and shot his wife of 12 years four times as she was sleeping in their bed. Violet was sleeping with a friend in the living room and didn't hear the gunshots due to the sound of a fan running nearby.
After the shooting, Holmes reloaded, then woke the girls and drove them to drop the friend off at her home in Auburn.
On his way home, Holmes pulled over and shot his daughter several times as she lay sleeping in the backseat. He then drove to a fast food restaurant, and ordered food through the drive-thru with his dead daughter in the backseat.
He returned home and put Violet's body next to his wife's then got back in the car and drove around aimlessly, prosecutors said. He decided the next morning to turn himself in.
Holmes will be officially sentenced on Dec. 7.
Dean Holmes pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated first degree murder last week, leaving a judge the only choice of sentencing Holmes to life in prison without possibility of parole or the death penalty.
Prosecutors say they will ask Holmes receive two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
"Dean Holmes will be spending the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole," Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said in a statement released to the media. "I made this decision after consultation with leaders in the office. We took into account the severity of his crimes, his remorse as demonstrated by his surrender to law enforcement and expeditious plea of guilty, his lack of felony criminal history, the likelihood of the death penalty being upheld, and other factors."
He added he spoke with the family members of the victims and they were supportive of his decision.
"Balancing all considerations, I believe justice is achieved by two life sentences without the possibility of parole," Lindquist said.
The body of Holmes' wife Kristi and his daughter Violet were discovered in late August after Holmes walked into the Pierce County Jail early one morning and said he fatally shot his wife and child.
Prosecutors say Dean Holmes pulled a revolver from a dresser early the morning before and shot his wife of 12 years four times as she was sleeping in their bed. Violet was sleeping with a friend in the living room and didn't hear the gunshots due to the sound of a fan running nearby.
After the shooting, Holmes reloaded, then woke the girls and drove them to drop the friend off at her home in Auburn.
On his way home, Holmes pulled over and shot his daughter several times as she lay sleeping in the backseat. He then drove to a fast food restaurant, and ordered food through the drive-thru with his dead daughter in the backseat.
He returned home and put Violet's body next to his wife's then got back in the car and drove around aimlessly, prosecutors said. He decided the next morning to turn himself in.
Holmes will be officially sentenced on Dec. 7.
This is pure crap-plain and simple. Now we get to support this sunny beach for the rest of his miserable life. Prison isn't punishment. I'm disgusted.
Of course, after his wife and child died he was all alone and lonely and could throw himself on the mercy of the court.
It used to be when you went to prison you lost your rights. Unfortunately because of the twisting of the civil rights laws (to cover everything and anything) these prisoners now have their rights and taxpayer paid lawyers to make sure they get them. Any means that would be used to actually punish these people is cruel and inhumane. This whole senerio has played out over the past 30 years and so I guess we really shouldn't be surprised that most prisons are run by the prisoners.
UNreal takes x2 lifes and just sits his ass in prision, what a creep
Ah - good 'ol Washington state. Â You gotta love the liberals. Â Hug the criminals. Â Make the rest of their life nice.
 @sentryone Oh we love these hypocritical rightards who love to waste taxpayer money. Making this guy sit in jail for 40 years thinking everyday about what he did is more punishment that putting him to sleep. Stop wasting our money for your blood lust. It costs a lot more to put someone to death. We don't need anymore right wing deficit spending which has put this country in a terrible spot.  Republican policies created not long ago almost bankrupted this country, only a fool would support this mindset. Â
How do you not support at least an eye for an eye. He took a life twice. Discusson over. Unless he has some means of bringing back those that he killed, he should be taking his last breath as soon as they can strap him in or take him out back. How can a punishment hold any value if a life cannot constitute a life. Yes there are varying degrees. Not so here. Blatant murder. No chance of killing the wrong person. You have the guilty party. Next you're going to tell us that society has to pay the bill to keep him in prison till he dies. Well certainly society doesn'y have to provide him with healthcare at no cost....3 square meals, roof over his head. Yes, that will deter people for sure. Forget I said anything. The legal system has it all figure out I guess. Â
no one in this state will get the death penalty ever because they let the green river killer live.
 @Simonswifey Exactly right. Even if they sentence someone to death that sentence will be easily overturned thanks to the deal with the devil the DA made in the Green River Killer case. You simply can't justify the death penalty for anyone else after letting Gary Ridgeway live.
 @Petwlkr I'm sure they likely will go for a death penalty again - most especially if they can find yet another murder to pin on Ridgeway. But we really need to think what is our ultimate goal here: our we primarily out to kill the killer? ...or are we primarily out to solve the crime and prevent the perpetrator from repeating it?
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Of course we must also remember that the deal with Ridgeway was intended to provide closure for victims' families by determining what really happened to many victims not firmly tied to Ridgeway at all, and to discover and return remains to families insofar as possible. And in this case, prosecutors are probably avoiding what might be a pretty compelling insanity defense that would derail a death sentence anyway - after great expense for the taxpayers.
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Another thing we really need to think about - though not so much with Ridgeway or with Holmes here - is the historical and undeniable fact that about 10% of those we put on death row in this country are later found to be innocent of the crime charged - including AT LEAST ONE so sentenced who was exonerated only AFTER he was executed by the State of Texas!Â
Maybe out of order, and off the subject of this article, but I just have to get it off my chest!
Just see how this state treat criminals! The harder the criminal, the better life he gets in prison! A killer has it better than a thief, and so on. But look at the money we spend on criminals, they have free medical, internet, food, housing, clothes and more! Yet our old people, and our veterans and homeless are starving and freezing to death with no funds to help them out! Let the damn prisoner work chain-gangs to pay for the time they are in prison, and let our tax money help victims, elderly, homeless and poor people instead!
I like the idea of putting in an express lane to the chair for certain crimes.......this is one of them.....
Aggghhhhh!!! We get to support him for the rest of his life. While his poor daughter only had 11 years on this earth.
What is wrong with this picture?
 @Gnirk The thing that is wrong with this picture is the sissy state of Washington! The lawmakers here love criminals, so they get more rights than the victims! This is why a death sentence in WA is pretty much useless, and it will end up costing us tax payers more than "life in prison"
And the filth gets to ride again.
We used to hang cattle rustlers and horse thieves.
We've come a long way when it comes to victims rights and punishment for criminals.
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At times I wonder why we're not all criminals.
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Why in earth do we even have the death penalty? We don't use it, even on those who really really deserve it we won't use the one penalty that we should. We wrap our selves in the comforting idea that they will suffer more spending a lifetime in prison...it's time to either use the death penalty or get rid of it.
 @DeadRabitz Use it.
@TheTruncheon That's the problem, we won't. Gary Ridgeway is still alive and he murdered 54 + (He was said he lost count). We won't execute him? This is the one thing I like about Texas. If you kill someone in Texas' they will kill you back.
@McLugnut Well you're up on a really high horse aren't you. How about you come on down and read what I am talking about. I really could care less what we decided to to. However in do care that we have the death penalty but use it so poorly. It's applied with out much thought and when it comes to actually following through we hem and haw for a decade or two. I think if we are going to hen and haw, fret and delay we should scrap it since we don't use it and not using it makes it an ineffective punishment and deterrent.
@DeadRabitz Heck in TX you don't even have to be guilty to be put to death! Cameron Todd Willingham. Just think, your blood lust could help kill innocent people!Â
 @DeadRabitz Well, it's past time we stop worrying about that insane freak Ridgeway. That was indeed a monumental mistake. But there's no reason, NO REASON AT ALL, to let the foolishness of that very bad decision continue to interfere with us meting out true justice today. If we continue to use Ridgeway's poor example as an excuse to not properly punish today's MURDERERS then we are just as nuts as he is.
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@Wildstar I'm not in favor of the death penalty, especially since the judge talked to other family members and they were ok with Life. But I would love to change what "Life" was like. NO conjugal visits, NO internet, NO TV, rice and beans - NO meat, NO desserts, NO cigarettes, NO extensive medical (NO Chemo, NO heart surgeries, NO transplants etc). Anything above basic life sustenance should be purchased with hard labor. Education only for those who will be getting out.
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Sigh, never gonna happen and I would really feel for the jail guards, but...
 @Wildstar no booty calls except for lamar in the shower stall
"...the liklihood of the death penalty being upheld." Probably not very likely.
Did they ever say where he went to get fast food? That just seems so completely bizzare.
@kbbcoop
I'm glad I'm not the only one who wonders at inane details like this. I actually wondered both what he ordered, and if any employee sensed something was very, very off and vividly remembers his or her encounter with this man.Â
Condolences to the friends and family of both. Too bad this cowardly POS had a sudden and convenient case of shrinkage right before it became time to do the only right thing at that point and eat that gun.Â
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Seriously, how do all of these murdering scumbags â and it seems to be the vast majority of them â possibly reason that it'll sound better to have intended to commit suicide but couldn't man up or woman up enough to do it, than a simple guilty plea and equally pointless attempt to explain what was in their head to make this choice?
Disgusting. Taxpayer dollars to keep this POS alive for another 40 years. Unbelievable.
 @SeattleVike Do you realize that it costs more taxpayer money to administer the death penalty?
 @SeattleVike Seriously? The only way the tax payer gets off easier is if he kills himself. He pleaded guilty so we dont have to pay for a trial, and executing someone is much more expensive than keeping them in prison for life.
More death doesn't relieve the pain of death. That's my opinion.Â
 @jowsuf You don't deserve to live if its Murder 1. Its the goodie-two-shoes that are filling our prisons with flat out BAD ppl----(that deserve to die). Â
Never would have been put to death anyway in this nanny state...
Another wrist-slap. Another spit into the eye of Justice!
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How Disgusting and Pathetic.
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HANG 'IM HIGH!
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 @the unvarnished truth Trust me. We're not happy either. Don't fool yourself.
Well of course they won't give him the death penalty. That would mean they would have to give capitol punishment as justice, which is obviously illegal in the state of Washington.
that's probably a worse punishment to let him live and remember
If I recall correctly, he did this to hide his debt. During his life sentence he should be put to work to pay back that debt he was so ashamed of, that he had to murder his family to hide it from them.Â
 @barkingmad If he goes to work that would give him some kind of freedom, and possibly power.Â
I am really glad that he did not get the death plenty. It's not that I am against it in anyway, it just seem to me that is what he wanted. He could not kill himself after he killed his wife and daughter, and needed someone else to do it. Now he gets to spend the rest of his long life remembering what he did. With all the other story's I have read, it really sounds like that he can not handle the memory's of it. It may not be long until he hangs himself.
As much as I dislike these decisions, when Gary Ridgeway got a plea deal it fundamentally ended the death penalty in the state of Washington. By definition, capital crime cases, and the death penalty are reserved for the worst of the worst of the worst. Gary Ridgeway, in the eyes of the "law," because he was given a plea deal, didn't meet the bar. The bar is actually higher, by legal argument than the Green River Killer.
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If you think of it objectively, not through the lens of the horror of a grown man killing his own 11 year old daughter and her mother - you can't look at those crimes and build a case on how they are worse than what Gary Ridgeway did. Gary Ridgeway killed mothers and daughters, and a lot more of them over a much longer period of time - only difference was not his own child, not his own wife.
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It sucks - but the judge made the right decision. Sure beats wasting millions of dollars on appeals for the inevitable overturning of the death penalty decision.
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Anyway, this guy is only one notch above murdering child rapist - there is a honor code among thieves - and he'll be treated about as bad as a "cho-mo"
 @Howard Beale They screwed up royally with Ridgeway, no question in my mind. But that's no reason to permanently lower the bar for every other case.
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Too many people are always looking for a lower standard to drop their own down to, instead of raising the bar, or at least holding true to and defending their own moral code, work ethic, even driving behavior.Â
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I don't mean you personally on that!!! Just pointing out that the line of reasoning with never handling another case better than they did Ridgeway's heads our society and our justice system in the wrong direction.Â
@Howard Beale  You are 100% correct in your comments. When the state took the death penalty off the table for Ridgeway, they effectively took it off the table in Washington. The sad fact is that it costs far more to execute someone than it does to house them for life with the endless appeals. Even if they do execute them is is not until 20 years after the crime, so whats the point?
 @Surveyor1  @Howard The only reason the death penalty cost so much is because our justice system lets the anti capital punishment lawyers run amok. Isn't liberism great?!
@Howard Beale@I Like Meat@Surveyor1@Howard
 I think you have a minor typo here, looking at the context:
"Me personally, I want to be 100% sure when we execute someone, they're innocent."
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I completely agree with wanting to ensure they are absolutely guilty (which I'm fairly sure is what you meant to type :D ).
But once we're there with concrete evidence and not just one or two terrified witnesses' testimony and detailed memory from one of the worst experiences of their lives, stop the endless messing around.Â
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If having to remove any one witness's testimony from the evidence (for valid questions of its reliability or lack of) would have resulted in a mistrial or not guilty verdict, that person should not be on death row.Â
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 @Howard Beale  @Surveyor1  @Howard I didn't say there should be the customary state and federal appeals along with a very thorough review of the evidence. With me it comes down to three things:
1. Does the evidence prove beyond any doubt that the accused committed the crime?
2. Was the crime heinous?
3. Was the crime a compulsive behavior crime? Â
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So I have no disagreement with you Howard, but I have seen lawyers make a circus of the legal system over capital cases just because they can and not because they should. And yes..anybody sitting on a death row with questionable evidence should not be there.
 @I Like Meat  @Surveyor1  @Howard Ya, that's it - how many people found innocent after conviction and spending sometimes decades in prison, some on death row by the Innocence Project?
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Gee - isn't extremism just great! Or are you for sending innocent people to execution? I mean, that would certainly go against any pro-life stance you may have - if you follow the conservative party line.
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Me personally, I want to be 100% sure when we execute someone, they're innocent. I mean, there isn't exactly a, "whoops, sorry, our bad," when it comes to things like the death penalty.
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If that makes me a liberal - than so be it.
 @Surveyor1  @Howard I have said it before. Given the death penalty? You get ONE appeal before you get executed. Your estate can still run appeals after your death, but if you don't win the first appeal, you die.
How on earth did that poor girl manage to actually sleep in the back of that car after all that initial ruckus at home??
@Throbbinhood She had no idea that her mother was dead. The original stories indicated that the two girls were sleeping in another room with a fan blowing and did not hear the gunshots.
 @Surveyor1  @Throbbinhood I saw that in the story, too, but unless the POS had a silencer on his gun, seems like even a loud fan wouldn't have drowned out a gunshot in the same house for either girl, much less both of them.Â
I remember our sleepovers at that age, and we pretty much stayed up most of the night if not all of it.Â