Man sentenced to seven years for role in 2006 beating death

Published 9:22 pm Wednesday, August 26, 2009

EVERETT — Adam Ulanowski may be looking over his shoulder the rest of his life.

Ulanowski, 31, was sentenced Wednesday to a little over seven years in prison in connection with the 2006 beating and strangling death of Dennis Brockman.

Detectives believe Brockman, 63, was attacked because he once provided information to federal agents probing illegal gun sales. That information helped send another man, Carl Mattos, to prison for a couple of months.

Ulanowski had agreed to testify against Mattos and was expected to say that Mattos killed Brockman out of revenge.

The men initially were charged with first-degree murder.

Ulanowski later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. He was allowed to plead to the lesser charge for his help in the investigation into Mattos.

But Ulanowski changed his version of events numerous times, calling into question his credibility as a witness, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Bonnie Tweten said. Mattos pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He admitted to attacking Brockman but said he never intended to kill him. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Brockman’s sister urged Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss to send Ulanowski to prison for life. He was there and did nothing to stop the beating. Instead he continued to steal from Brockman as the Lynnwood man was being pummeled to death, court papers said.

Weiss said he suspected that Ulanowski would spend his life looking over his shoulder, worried because he snitched on a man convicted of killing a police informant.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.