PORT TOWNSEND — Convicted double-murderer Michael J. Pierce received the maximum sentence of life in prison Monday for killing Pat and Janice Yarr before burning their home down north of Lake Leland in March 2009.
With Pierce’s combined conviction of murder, arson, burglary, firearm and theft charges, he will be imprisoned for 1,415 months, or just under 118 years.
“He has essentially received life without parole,” said his attorney, Richard Davies. “He isn’t getting out.”
Davies said Pierce plans to appeal but did not disclose specifics of that action.
During Monday’s sentencing in Jefferson County Superior Court, there was a sense the crime had a deeper effect than arrest, trial and conviction.
“Pierce has stolen the sense of security from this community,” said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Rosekrans, who was the lead prosecutor in the case.
“In Pierce County and King County, you are always seeing robbery and murder, but it isn’t supposed to happen here.”
Family statements
Judge Craddock Verser handed down the sentence after several family members and close friends gave statements.
A nine-woman, three-man jury convicted Pierce on all counts March 26 after a two-week trial, largely dominated by expert testimony from witnesses called by Rosekrans.
Verser on May 19 denied a retrial for Pierce after Davies contended that Pierce was convicted by testimony as the result of jurors’ misunderstanding key testimony.
Davies claimed that after the verdict, first Peninsula Daily News then The Leader weekly newspaper interviewed at least two jurors who said they misinterpreted key testimony that they believed linked Pierce to the murder scene.
Davies said he is not looking forward to a new trial and took responsibility for not discovering the jurors’ misunderstanding the testimony of a key witness, Michael Donahue.
The jurors mistakenly believed that Donahue had said Pierce asked him if he, Pierce, smelled of gasoline, shortly after the fire was set at the Yarrs’ Lake Leland-area home, according to the newspaper articles.
Experts had testified that an accelerant such as gasoline had been used to set the fire at the Yarrs’ house.
But the court transcript showed Pierce was actually referring to a question Davies’ investigator had asked him.
Couple hailed
Several at Monday’s sentencing recalled the Yarrs and their positive effect on the community and how their absence empties the lives of those around them.
At other times – sometimes from the same speaker — Pierce became the object of tremendous vitriol, with phrases like “animal,” “scum of the earth” and “rot in hell” thrown in his direction.
“You are worse than an animal,” said Susan Cook, a childhood friend of Janice Yarr. “You are an evil monster.
“You may have taken them away, but you will never take away our precious memories.
“I wish you the slowest, most painful death you can imagine. You will rot in hell.”
During this statement, Cook turned around and looked Pierce in the eye.
She said Pierce returned her stare “with a snarl on his lips.”
A recurring theme was Pierce’s attitude, which several family members called “unrepentant.”
Victims’ daughters
Among those speaking were the Yarrs’ daughters, Michelle Ham and Patty Waters.
“Thanks to Mr. Pierce, my son will not have a living memory of his grandparents,” Ham said.
“Instead, he will only know him through a Polaroid picture.”
After the testimony, Judge Verser related a history of Pierce’s criminal behavior, beginning with his juvenile offenses.
Once arriving at the trial’s charges, he enumerated each offense and stated the maximum penalty for each.
After naming the offense, Verser again listed the previous offenses in a manner that recalled the repetition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
These offenses and the maximum terms are:
• Murder (first count), 548 months.
• Murder (second count), 320 months.
• Burglary, 116 months.
• Firearm enhanced penalty (two counts), 120 months.
• Arson, 120 months.
• Theft, 102 months.
• Theft (second count), 29 months.
• Unlawful access, 60 months.
All sentences are to run consecutively, adding up to 1,415 months or 117.9 years.
After the sentence, Pierce was transported to the Corrections Department facility in Shelton.
There, it will be determined where he serves his term, Rosekrans said.
The courtroom was full of family and friends of the Yarrs, along with law enforcement investigators who worked on the case.
‘Very happy’
Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell said she was “very happy” with the sentence.
Also attending were several jurors from the trial along with Pierce’s mother, Ila Rettig, and girlfriend, Tiffany Rondean.
When asked for comment on the sentence, Rettig declined.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
