Another horrific case for my (now former) Department.


https://www.fox13seattle.com/n...taged-murder-suicide


Very reminiscent of the “Carnation murders” in 2007 when an adult daughter and her b’friend killed her parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew.



” FALL CITY, Wash. - The 15-year-old boy accused of gunning down his family in Fall City on Monday now faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Newly-filed charging documents allege the teenager gunned down his family, then staged it to appear as a "murder-suicide" perpetrated by his 13-year-old brother. The county's decedents list identifies members of the Humiston family, including parents Mark and Sarah, 13-year-old Benjamin, 9-year-old Joshua and 7-year-old Katheryn. Their causes of death have been identified as "multiple gunshot wounds" and "gunshot wound to the head."


According to charging documents, the boy called 911 around 4:55 a.m. on Monday, out of breath and declaring that his younger brother "just shot my whole family and committed suicide, too," and that he was hiding in the main floor bathroom.

He told 911 operators his younger brother shot his family and himself after "he had been caught looking at pornography the night before, and that he was about to get in a lot of trouble," according to court docs.

During this call, his 11-year-old sister had escaped the home and ran to a neighbor's house a quarter-mile down the road while suffering a gunshot wound to her neck, and told neighbors her family had been shot dead.

According to court docs, the girl said she heard gunshots and screaming in the house, then she saw her brother's face, and then he shot her. She told authorities that she held her breath and played dead, and that she was scared her brother would follow her to the neighbor's house to find her.

Police arrived and took the 15-year-old boy into custody, and the injured sister was taken to Harborview Medical Center for emergency treatment.


She told police she and her sister Katheryn share a room and a bunk bed, and during the night, they were woken up by gunshots. She saw her father lying dead in the hallway, and when her younger sister left the bottom bunk and went into the hall to investigate, there was another gunshot and she saw her sister fall down, according to court docs.

The girl told police her brother came into her room and shot her once or twice, then went and checked the other family members' necks to make sure they were dead. As she escaped the house to get help, she said she saw her brother on the phone with police.

Investigators inspected the house, and found Benjamin's body in the hallway, with a handgun in his left hand. They noted there was no blood on the gun or his left hand, indicative of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.



The 11-year-old sister of the teen accused of shooting and killing five of his family members has since been released from the hospital after her brave escape.

"[The 15-year-old suspect] systematically murdered his mother, father, two brothers, and sister, and attempted to murder his other sister," read the investigators' findings in the charging docs. "[He] then staged the scene prior to the arrival of first responders to make it appear that [Benjamin] had committed the murders and then killed himself. [He] then further perpetuated the false staging by repeatedly telling the 911 dispatcher that [Benjamin] was responsible for killing all their family and then committing suicide."

The teenage suspect is currently being charged in juvenile court, and his next court date is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday.”



Info on the 2007 case if anyone is interested:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Carnation_murders



Lot of things I “miss” about the job now that I have retired - the horrors people do to each other is definitely NOT one of them.


May the victims rest in peace, the survivor get the support she will need and, if found guilty, the suspect never spend another day of life as a free person.

Should be charged as an adult.
I suspect he is a psychopath and I also suspect there were signs of his abnormal behavior but the family was in denial.

Meanwhile in Michigan Ethan Crumbley, (the Oxford High School shooter) and his legal team are appealing his life without parole sentencing as being cruel and unusual for the four deaths and multiple injured he caused.

quote:

Originally posted by Sacramento Johnson:
Should be charged as an adult.
I suspect he is a psychopath and I also suspect there were signs of his abnormal behavior but the family was in denial.

Agree. I don’t care if he’s 15. The level of malice and forethought involved in both committing and attempting to cover up his heinous act tells me there is no place in society ever for this savage.

Doesn't matter if he's technically/medically a psychopath or not. He's dangerous and should never see the light of day again (outside of the exercise yard). Better yet, one bullet out behind the courthouse.

I've been watching this one because one of the guys I used to work with lives in Fall City.

quote:

Originally posted by Sacramento Johnson:
Should be charged as an adult.
I suspect he is a psychopath and I also suspect there were signs of his abnormal behavior but the family was in denial.

Of course he out of his mind.

This doesn't mean he meets the legal criteria for a not guilty by reason of insanity plea, which is a standard that is very hard to meet.

And it doesn't mean he isn't evil or culpable.

But he clearly some kind of crazy.

quote:

Originally posted by Sacramento Johnson:
Should be charged as an adult.

He still can be. Just because the case starts in juvenile court doesn't mean it won't end up in adult court.

Generally, a juvenile's case can either be directly filed in adult court, or filed in juvenile court and then transferred to adult court. Some jurisdictions make the latter path much easier than the former.

Psychopath is a personality type, the far side of a sociopath. It is not a mental disease in the same way schizophrenia is. Therefore, it is not valid as an affirmative defense. Hopefully this person never sees the light of day.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Psychopath is a personality type, the far side of a sociopath. It is not a mental disease in the same way schizophrenia is. Therefore, it is not valid as an affirmative defense. Hopefully this person never sees the light of day.

Having a mental disease is not a defense to crime. It may be offered as a reason to lessen punishment, but it is not a defense.

Generally, to establish an insanity defense, one must show that a mental illness prevented the accused from knowing right from wrong or understanding the nature of their actions. Merely having a diagnoses of mental illness is not enough.

This defense is very hard to prove. It works rarely.

Most people with a mental illness still know right from wrong and understand the nature of their acts. Those people get convicted.

Again, a defendant may not be able to prove an insanity defense, but evidence of mental illness may help reduce punishment or divert the convicted into some mental health program or treatment facility even if found guilty.

j, can you comment on his having the mind to place the gun in his brother's hand and saying he did the shooting? I'd say that qualifies him to have a pretty sharp mind...though very evil and conniving.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
j, can you comment on his having the mind to place the gun in his brother's hand and saying he did the shooting? I'd say that qualifies him to have a pretty sharp mind...though very evil and conniving.

I think it is fairly strong evidence that he cannot establish an insanity defense. A person who attempts to shift blame to another person would seem to understand the consequence of his actions. An attempt to shift blame indicates the person knows he will suffer an adverse consequence which in turn indicates the person knows right from wrong and the nature of their actions.

That alone probably doesn't tell the tale, but it seems a strong piece of evidence against an insanity defense.

Again, being able to establish a real criminal insanity defense is quite difficult.

Thanks for your thoughts.