Man guilty of manslaughter in Microsoft manager’s death

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 12, 2006

SEATTLE – A King County Superior Court jury couldn’t agree that the 2002 killing of a Microsoft program manager was murder although the victim was stabbed more than 200 times.

So the jurors, after deliberating for 21/2 days, on Tuesday found Ronald Lakey guilty of manslaughter in the death of David Barzilai.

Barzilai was killed after the two men met to have sex. Prosecutors said Lakey was high on methamphetamine at the time.

A few jurors believed Lakey was too intoxicated to actually intend to kill Barzilai in Barzilai’s Belltown apartment, one juror told a Seattle newspaper, so they settled on the less-serious charge.

The juror, who did not want his name made public, said the decision was “extremely hard” and that jurors believed Lakey would take back that night if he could.

Though disappointed, prosecutors were relieved the jury agreed the crime involved “deliberate cruelty” – something that will let them ask for a longer prison term than the 14 to 17 years Lakey faces.

Lakey had been charged with first-degree murder with the aggravated circumstance of deliberate cruelty. He was found guilty ot first-degree manslaughter with the agggravated circumstance of deliberate cruelty.

But the jury couldn’t agree on either first- or second-degree murder.

Manslaughter is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being without malice or premeditation.

The verdict surprised lawyers on both sides.

“We’re incredibly disappointed,” deputy prosecutor Jimmy Hung said. “It was a little perplexing that someone could be deliberately cruel but not be able to deliberately kill someone. Philosophically, in my mind, there’s a conflict.”

Hung, who spoke with jurors after the verdict, said he thought some had felt sorry for Lakey. He said prosecutors will ask for a sentence much longer than the standard.