A Camano Island man who was asserting an insanity defense for murdering his father more than three years ago pleaded guilty to several charges as part of a plea bargain and was sentenced to just over 20 years in prison last week.
Dominic Wagstaff was in the midst of a delusional episode and had unsuccessfully sought help from a mental health treatment facility the day before he shot and killed 41-year-old Dean Wagstaff, shot and injured his brother’s girlfriend and tried to shoot his brother at the family home on Feb. 28, 2021.
Wagstaff’s attorney, Craig Platt of Coupeville, said his client has no memory of the crimes and only realized what he had done when he read the police report from jail. He said Wagstaff had a very fixed, delusional belief that his family members were killing people; he told deputies at the scene to look for bodies in the trunk of a car.
“I have never seen a more compelling case of a not guilty by reason of insanity defense in my career,” he said, explaining that he has specialized in mental defenses.
Nonetheless, neither he nor Island County Chief Criminal Prosecutor Eric Ohme wanted to risk going to trial. Forensic psychologists for the prosecution and defense agreed that Wagstaff was suffering from schizophrenia, but they disagreed about whether he met the legal definition of insanity.
Under state law, a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity defense requires a jury to find that, as a result of mental disease or defect, the defendant’s mind was affected to such an extent that he or she was unable to perceive the nature and quality of the acts with which he or she is charged or was unable to tell right from wrong.
As a result, Wagstaff pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court on Oct. 1 to second-degree murder and first-degree assault. Both counts were charged as crimes of domestic violence.
Wagstaff was originally charged with first-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault; the original charges had firearms enhancement and a significantly higher standard sentencing range.
The resolution of the case was a long time coming. Wagstaff went through four different attorneys — including one who died — and was interviewed by multiple psychiatrists over the past three and a half years.
At the sentencing hearing Ohme described the horror of the crime. He said the family, including a child, were having dinner when Wagstaff started acting up and couldn’t be calmed down. He pulled out a concealed 9 mm pistol and pointed it at his father, whose last words were, “That better be an Airsoft.”
Wagstaff fired and shot his father in the eye. The bullet passed through his skull and struck the woman in the head. She was injured but survived with a scalp wound, according to court documents.
Wagstaff then pointed the gun at his brother’s head and fired, but his brother pushed it away just in time. His brother was able to wrestle the gun away and Wagstaff fled to his bedroom, where a deputy later arrested him.
Ohme said he will never forget the recording of the 911 call that Wagstaff brother’s made that night.
“The anguish was indescribable,” he said.
Platt described how the mental health treatment system failed Wagstaff. He said his client knew he was suffering a mental health crisis just prior to the shooting and was frightened.
Wagstaff repeatedly begged for help at Smokey Point Behavioral Hospital but was told to come back later. He turned the gun on his family shortly afterward.
Platt emphasized Wagstaff is now doing fine and under control after being locked up for years and receiving medication.
Platt said Wagstaff was extremely remorseful but declined to speak in court.
In the end, Island County Superior Court Judge Christon Skinner said the sentencing recommendation worked out by the two experienced attorneys was fair. He sentenced Wagstaff to 20¼ years in prison.
This story originally appeared in the Whidbey News-Times, a sibling publication to The Herald.
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