The man accused of killing Seattle Sierra Club worker Shannon Harps near her Capitol Hill home has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.
James A. Williams, 50, pleaded guilty last week to first-degree murder in the New Year's Eve 2007 stabbing. After hearing from Harps' family and friends, King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson on Thursday sentenced Williams to the lengthy prison term.
Williams, who has been held at Western State Hospital during much of the time since his arrest in January 2008, has a long history of schizophrenia and violent crime.
Harps, 31, was stabbed to death in the stairwell of her apartment building. Police later found Williams' DNA on a kitchen knife found nearby, and arrested him shortly thereafter.
Due to an earlier criminal conviction, Williams was living in a home for extremely mentally ill offenders when the attack occurred. A community corrections officer supervising him wrote that Williams "was barely able to hold himself together" the day Harps was stabbed to death.
The unprovoked attack prompted widespread concern around the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Police initially identified another suspect in the attack; later cleared, that man, William Ball II, was himself slain months later in an unrelated attack.
Responding to the plea last week, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a statement that Harps' slaying illustrated a need for better coordination between the mental health system and law enforcement.
"This is a good resolution to a tragic case which will result in, essentially, a life sentence for the defendant," Satterberg said previously. "This case highlighted a lot of work that still needs to be done in improving the overlap between the mental health system and the criminal justice system."
Harps' death prompted a series of special reports in the Seattle P.I. on the state's mental health system and its failures. One focused on efforts to monitor dangerously mentally ill offenders like Williams.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Barack Obama pledges support for Palestinian statehood
Barack Obama has reassured Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, of Washington's support for Palestinian statehood during his first visit to the White House.
Following their Oval Office talks, Mr Obama said he was "confident" of moving the Middle East peace process forward and said freezing the expansion of settlements was now a public priority for the US.
Mr Obama said that "time is of the essence" in securing Arab Israeli peace and that it is "in US interests to do so quickly".
After years of being shut out the White House during the Bush Administration, the Palestinian delegation was encouraged to find a President prepared to push back against Israeli positions that conflict with the "road map" for peace.
Mr Obama declared that Israel had the obligation of "stopping settlements," but warned that Palestinians must also crack down on anti-Israel violence and incitement in schools, mosques and public places.
A freeze on settlements has been US policy for years, but in practice expansion has been tolerated, to the fury of Palestinians. Mr Abbas has ruled out restarting peace talks until Israel removes all roadblocks and freezes settlement building.
During a brief press conference Mr Obama also said he was confident that Israel would recognise that a two-state solution was in the interests of its security.
However earlier in the day Israel dismissed an unequivocal US demand to stop building Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory, as it headed for a direct confrontation with its most important ally and sponsor.
Responding to blunt comments made by Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, an Israeli government spokesman said "normal life" would continue in West Bank settlements – a euphemism for further construction to accommodate population growth. Mark Regev , the Israeli government spokesman, said the fate of settlements "will be determined in final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and in the interim, normal life must be allowed to continue in those communities".
Earlier this week Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, told his cabinet that construction would continue in existing settlements.
Mrs Clinton used particularly blunt language when restating Mr Obama's insistence that the building should stop.
"He wants to see a stop to settlements. Not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions," she said.
The comments were the clearest example yet of the rift emerging between the President, who has vowed vigorously to pursue the peace process as part of a changed approach to the region, and Mr Netanyahu, who presides over a hard line government that is largely opposed to concessions.
Following their Oval Office talks, Mr Obama said he was "confident" of moving the Middle East peace process forward and said freezing the expansion of settlements was now a public priority for the US.
Mr Obama said that "time is of the essence" in securing Arab Israeli peace and that it is "in US interests to do so quickly".
After years of being shut out the White House during the Bush Administration, the Palestinian delegation was encouraged to find a President prepared to push back against Israeli positions that conflict with the "road map" for peace.
Mr Obama declared that Israel had the obligation of "stopping settlements," but warned that Palestinians must also crack down on anti-Israel violence and incitement in schools, mosques and public places.
A freeze on settlements has been US policy for years, but in practice expansion has been tolerated, to the fury of Palestinians. Mr Abbas has ruled out restarting peace talks until Israel removes all roadblocks and freezes settlement building.
During a brief press conference Mr Obama also said he was confident that Israel would recognise that a two-state solution was in the interests of its security.
However earlier in the day Israel dismissed an unequivocal US demand to stop building Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory, as it headed for a direct confrontation with its most important ally and sponsor.
Responding to blunt comments made by Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, an Israeli government spokesman said "normal life" would continue in West Bank settlements – a euphemism for further construction to accommodate population growth. Mark Regev , the Israeli government spokesman, said the fate of settlements "will be determined in final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and in the interim, normal life must be allowed to continue in those communities".
Earlier this week Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, told his cabinet that construction would continue in existing settlements.
Mrs Clinton used particularly blunt language when restating Mr Obama's insistence that the building should stop.
"He wants to see a stop to settlements. Not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions," she said.
The comments were the clearest example yet of the rift emerging between the President, who has vowed vigorously to pursue the peace process as part of a changed approach to the region, and Mr Netanyahu, who presides over a hard line government that is largely opposed to concessions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)