PORT TOWNSEND — Five months can seem like a blink of an eye or an eternity.
For the relatives of Patrick and Janice Yarr, who were murdered five months ago, it’s both at once as they attend hearings leading up to a trial.
While it’s only been five months, we just want to get it over with,” said Michelle Ham, one of the Yarrs’ daughters.
“While we want a fair trial, while we understand there’s a process, it can just be frustrating at some times.
“It feels like there are times when the defendant has more rights than we do.”
Michael J. Pierce, 34, of Quilcene, is charged with killing the Yarrs, as well as with six other felonies in connection with their death after they were found dead in their home on Boulton Farm Road in Quilcene on March 19, the day after a fire destroyed their home.
Trial to begin in November
Trial is set to begin Nov. 2.
In the meantime, court hearings continue on questions concerning Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser’s sealing of several documents in the case in June and his signing in July an order prohibiting the county commissioners, auditor and treasurer from disclosing financial information related to the case.
Ham, 40, of Chimacum, and her sister, Patty Waters, 37 of Portland, sit through every hearing, along with other family members and friends, and watch as lawyers argue the minutia of one of Jefferson County’s highest profile cases in recent memory.
On Friday, the minutia was grinding.
For an hour, arguments centered mostly around whether or not the cost of a public defense for the indigent Pierce should be made public.
Not much was decided for the fate of the man who is accused of killing the Yarrs and burning their home to the ground. Along with two counts of murder, Pierce is also charged with arson, robbery, burglary, theft of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm and theft.
No decision was made as to whether or not the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office would seek the death penalty in the case.
It was decided that he be held in the Jefferson County jail without bail, after Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Rosekrans successfully argued that Pierce’s bail of $250,000 should be removed.
Death penalty
“They bumped the decision of whether to seek the death penalty back to Sept. 12,” Ham said.
“I wish they could have decided that, so we would at least know what he was facing.
“The one thing that they did do for us was remove bail, so now he can’t get out.
“He can’t do this to anyone else.”
The family is bracing themselves for delays.
“We’ve been told to be prepared for this to be continued,” said Waters, who drives to Port Townsend from Portland each time the court convenes.
“Stuff like this, where nothing happens, nothing gets decided, it seems to happen a lot.
“These five months, well, it feels like it has taken a year of my life to get here.”
Some days it’s bad, some days it’s bearable and some days it’s a bit better.
“There are times where you can do this, where you can be strong in [the courtroom] and be the support for your family,” Ham said.
“Then there are some days where you need the support, or days where you just have trouble getting through.
“But the one thing we both do is we get up in the morning, we go to work and we be the mothers that we need to be.
“It’s how they raised us.”
Memories of parents
Ham and Waters lay out a small collection of photos on the table, and share memories of their parents. Suddenly tears turn to laughter.
They remember the times in Las Vegas, fishing trips and football games with their parents.
The pictures are full of smiles, and so are Ham and Waters.
“They were great people,” Waters said.
“We’ve heard so many great things from the people they worked with.
“That’s gotten lost in all of this, the trial seems to not be about them right now.”
The women describe their father, Pat, age 60, as a great talker and an individual genuinely interested in the lives of others. He loved getting up to go to work, he loved beautiful days and he loved Jefferson County, they said.
Their mother, Janice, age 57, was the listener to accompany Pat. She was the one who could comfort and advise when times got tough.
She was an organizational maven, keeping the books for Seton Construction, the family farm and the family trucking business all at one time.
“Above all else, they had great love for each other,” Water said.
Ham said they retraced the steps their father took on the day of his death.
“He visited two or three friends, he visited my husband at work, he spoke with a bunch of different people,” she said, “And it was just this typical day for him.”
“That’s who he was. That’s who they both were.”
More than 700 people, including drivers of about 100 log trucks who formed a convoy, mourned the Yarrs during a memorial service at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in April. People described them as “icons” in the timber industry and the community.
The bright red truck owned by Pat, with the names of him and his wife on the doors, now sits in Ham’s front yard.
Cry in the truck
“We still go out and sit in it and talk and cry,” Waters said.
“It’s nice, because it’s like being right there with them again.”
The family thanked the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for all its work. Ham says she believes Pierce has been “rightly accused.”
They also thanked the community for the support, the letters and the kind words they have received.
They have created a Web site at http://theyarrjourney.blogspot.com for people to join them and contact them as the trial continues. Even if it takes another five months.
“Or even a year,” Waters said.
“These usually don’t get over quick, and we just want everything to go right.
“The last thing we want is for this to be rushed, and for him to be released on a technicality.”
Their hope is not for closure.
“We might never get closure,” Ham said.
“But in the end, we do hope we get answers.”
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
