PORT ANGELES — Double-murderer Patrick Drum’s mandatory sentencing to two life terms without parole was delayed until 9 a.m. Tuesday at a Thursday court hearing packed with spectators, including friends of his victims — and at least two of his friends.
Judge Ken Williams delayed the hearing at the request of Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly, who was in a jury trial Thursday at the same time Drum was to be sentenced, she told Williams.
As Drum, 34, left the courtroom to jeers, an unidentified woman shouted, “I love you, Patrick.”
Another woman, Shana Parkhurst of Port Angeles, who was sitting in the gallery, waved at Drum as he walked into the courtroom.
Drum waved back.
“Even though he committed murder, he’s still a human being,” Parkhurst, 33, said after the hearing.
“It’s heartbreaking all around to the victims and suspects,” she said.
Parkhurst, a homemaker, said she has known Drum, who was attending Peninsula College and wrote poetry, for seven years.
“The bottom line is he’s still a human being,” she said.
“He needs support and love and respect.”
Drum has pleaded guilty to killing convicted sex offenders Gary L. Blanton Jr., 28, and Jerry W. Ray, 56, of Port Angeles in murders that he planned as part of a vendetta against sex offenders, according to authorities.
Each charge of aggravated first-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
Blanton’s wife described Blanton and Drum as “best friends,” according to a Clallam County Sheriff’s Office report.
Blanton was living at Drum’s residence in Sequim when he was murdered.
Blanton was shot 17 times and Ray multiple times, according to a county Sheriff’s Office report.
Ray was killed at the home he shared with his 84-year-old father.
The killings took place the weekend of June 2.
Following a manhunt and his capture June 3, Drum told authorities he was targeting a third convicted sex offender in Quilcene.
Drum pleaded guilty Aug. 30 to two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the killings.
His guilty plea saved the county the $700,000 to $800,000 it would have cost for the case to go to trial, County Administrator Jim Jones said Thursday.
Drum was wearing the striped jumpsuit Thursday worn by jail inmates who are segregated from other inmates.
He was confined to a cell for 23 hours a day June 25 after he stabbed a 19-year-old convicted sex offender at the jail.
When Drum, an Astoria, Ore. native, was arrested, he had been wearing a shoulder-holstered 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, police said.
Authorities also located an abandoned rental vehicle registered to Drum.
Inside was a backpack containing marijuana, three computer thumb drives, camouflage clothing, a map, flashlights, camping supplies and a crumpled yellow piece of paper, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
“Attention all peace officers” was written on the paper, according to the police report.
“I am taking to the woods.
“I apologize for the disturbance in your neighborhoods.
“Let us pray that our paths do not meet in an abrasive fashion.”
It was signed, “Patrick Drum.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
