PORT ANGELES — The man accused of killing his girlfriend in a brutal beating last week was formally charged Friday with second-degree murder.
In a Clallam County Superior Court room teeming with friends and family of Amber Bulus-Steed, plus investigators on the case, 25-year-old Nathan Eugene Hipsher sat at a table with his attorney and nodded as Judge Ken Williams told him what charge prosecutors had filed.
Hipsher quietly shook his head as Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said Bulus-Steed’s mother wanted permission to speak with Hipsher.
Williams denied her request before the brief hearing ended.
Outside the courtroom, Dana Steed, clutching an 8-by-10 portrait of her daughter, said she wants to ask Hipsher to “take responsibility for what he did” and not put her family through the pain of a trial.
“My plea for him is just to get this over with,” she said.
“If he could do this, I would forgive him.”
‘Adamantly denies’
Hipsher’s attorney, Terry Mulligan of Clallam-Jefferson Public Defenders, said his client denies murdering Bulus-Steed.
“Mr. Hipsher adamantly denies these charges and is very distraught over being charged with an offense he didn’t commit,” said Mulligan.
“He seems very distraught over being charged with something he just didn’t do.”
The charge of second-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a $50,000 fine.
