PORT TOWNSEND — The state Supreme Court has declined to review an appeal filed by Michael J. Pierce of a 2014 verdict that found him guilty of double-murder charges.
The appeal, filed in February, was similar to a request Pierce’s lawyer filed with the Division 2 Court of Appeals, which was denied in December.
On Wednesday, the high court handed down an order denying Pierce’s petition for review.
Pierce, now 41, was convicted in 2014 of entering the home of Pat and Janice Yarr on March 18, 2009, and taking the couple’s ATM cards and personal identification numbers at gunpoint. He then shot the couple, with a rifle owned by Pat Yarr, and doused the house with gasoline and set it ablaze.
Pierce was sentenced to 117 years in prison and is serving his sentence in the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.
“At least the legal portion of this nightmare is over for the Yarr family,” said Michael Haas, Jefferson County prosecuting attorney, in an email Wednesday.
“Hopefully knowing that Pierce is in prison for the rest of his natural life and won’t be able to hurt any other innocent people will bring some healing to the Yarr family.”
The 2014 conviction came at the end of four trials.
Pierce was originally convicted in 2010 on two counts of murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, first-degree arson, theft of a firearm, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree theft.
That ruling was overturned in 2012 by the state Court of Appeals. The next two trials, in 2013 and 2014, ended in a mistrial. The final trial ended in another conviction of two counts of murder.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
