PORT ANGELES — Andrea Freese, a mentally disturbed woman who faced life in prison for stabbing to death William Boze, will receive a far lesser sentence after a jury Thursday afternoon found her guilty of second-degree manslaughter.
Freese, 34, killed Boze, 73, in his west Port Angeles home on July 28, 2007, after the two argued, according to testimony at her trial, which stretched over nearly two weeks.
The jury will return to hear further argument before Superior Court Judge George L. Wood at 9 a.m. Wednesday to determine whether circumstances will increase the standard sentence range for second-degree manslaughter of “in the neighborhood of 31 to 41 months,” Freese’s lawyer, Public Defender John Hayden, said late Thursday.
Those circumstances include assertions that Freese inflicted domestic violence, that she lacked remorse, that Boze was acting as a good Samaritan by allowing Freese to live at his house off and on for two years when he was killed and her knowledge that she knew he was vulnerable.
Boze walked with a cane, and Freese massaged his leg to ease his pain, according to testimony.
Boze, who met Freese as a volunteer at the Dream Center teen facility in Port Angeles, often took in those needing shelter, according to testimony.
Freese, diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder by a Western State Hospital doctor, claimed Boze punched her in the nose, and she defended herself.
Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly claimed Freese was not acting in self-defense, because she went into the kitchen to get the knife before fatally stabbing Boze in the arm, severing an artery.
Lesser charge
She could have faced life in prison for second-degree murder, which riled Boze’s family and friends, a half-dozen of whom sat through the entire trial.
“We feel sorrow,” William Boze III, of Pittsburgh, Pa., said outside the county courthouse. “We were hoping for justice.”
He said his father helped Freese “and she ran his name in the mud.”
Freese made unsubstantiated allegations that he was molesting her.
“The prosecutor did the best job she could,” Boze said.
He said he worried that Clallam County citizens would be endangered by her presence once she is released from prison.
“We feel sorry for her mom,” Boze added.
Freese’s mother, Charlene Logsdon, a Silverdale school-bus driver, also attended every day of the trial along with Freese’s grandmother, Alice Ramsey, of Bremerton, also Logsdon’s mother.
Logsdon said her daughter “probably” should have been found guilty of second-degree murder and was sure the jury was going to agree.
“I think she should have to serve more time,” said Logsdon, who added she would describe her daughter as homeless.
“I feel very bad for his family that she might get only three years.
“It’s sad to think, just three years for a man’s life.
“We love our daughter, but she did a terrible thing.
“I know she’s got mental problems, that’s for sure.”
Hayden was “quite pleased” with the verdict and said the real tragedy in the case was how the mental health services addressed his client’s longstanding problems.
She was denied admittance to Western State Hospital, and a litany of doctors’ reports that described her mental maladies dating to 2003 were quoted at the trial.
Hayden disagreed she would endanger the public once released.
“That’s a bogeyman that’s raised anytime someone is found as not culpable,” he said.
Hayden said about three hours after the verdict that he had not had a chance to talk to Freese about what the jury’s decision will mean for her future.
“I’m not sure it has sunk in completely yet,” he said.
Kelly was not available for comment.
Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
