QUILCENE — A Port Townsend man has pleaded guilty to last November’s second-degree murder of a Quilcene man.
Quilcene resident Robin Richards, 62, was pronounced dead at the scene at his home in the 600 block of McInnis Road after he had been shot once in the chest early Nov. 27.
Blake Fox, 38, will be sentenced for the crime on Oct. 28 in Jefferson County Superior Court. Under the Sentencing Reform Act, he faces 123 to 220 months — or a little over 10 years to a little over 18 years — in prison because he had no prior criminal history, according to a press release from the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Fox had been charged on Nov. 29 with the Class B felony. He pleaded guilty to the crime on Friday.
He was arrested after a manhunt of nearly 12 hours on Nov. 27.
Deputies initially were called to the Quilcene residence by a female witness who said she and Fox were visiting Richards and had arrived at about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 26, the report said.
The witness, Fox and Richards were the only adults at the house, according to the report.
Shortly after midnight, Fox stepped outside and then returned smoking a cigarette and carrying a pistol, the witness told deputies.
Fox fired three shots, one of which struck Richards in the chest, then fled, according to the release.
Detectives eventually learned that Fox had run out of gas and was in a wooded area along West Valley Road in Chimacum. They spoke to him over the phone and convinced him to walk out of the woods, disarm himself, and surrender to the deputies, the release said.
