EVERETT — A Lake Stevens man convicted of murder almost two decades ago is back in jail on allegations he strangled and beat a woman last month.
In December 2002, Robert Dale Woods II, then 22, was convicted of second-degree murder in the strangling of a 17-year-old Lake Stevens High School student, Jolene Desrosier. Woods had been dating her older sister.
He spent the next decade-and-a-half in prison before his release in May 2017.
Thirteen months later, Woods was again in trouble with the law, accused of charging at his neighbor with a knife and threatening to kill him. Woods and Desrosier’s older sister were still a couple at the time.
Woods told the neighbor he’d been to prison.
“You think I won’t kill you,” he said, according to court records.
Woods pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and felony harassment. Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Langbehn sentenced him to 2¾ years, a prison term at the low end of state sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors requested that sentence.
He was released in November, court papers show.
Last month, police were called to his apartment south of Everett. A witness called 911 to report a possible assault at Woods’ apartment. But Woods and the woman there told sheriff’s deputies the argument was only verbal, according to court documents. Deputies didn’t contact the 911 caller. They didn’t have probable cause to arrest Woods for assault, so they left.
The next morning, deputies were called back to the apartment for a welfare check. The woman’s father reported Woods had beaten her, according to court papers. The suspect had pleaded with the father not to alert authorities.
The woman reportedly told the deputy Woods attacked her after the deputies left. She was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, where she remained for several days with broken ribs, a broken nose and bleeding in her brain.
Police arrested Woods, now 42. While walking to the patrol car, Woods said he wanted to say goodbye because he was going to get his third strike, meaning a third violent felony conviction that would mean life in prison, according to court documents.
A week after the alleged assault, Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui ordered Woods to have no contact with the victim before a trial. But two days later, he reportedly called her from the jail. In the 20-minute conversation, he told her he was sorry. He also said he’d make it up to her if she refused to testify at trial, prosecutors allege. He told her he would go to jail for life if she testified.
Last week, Snohomish County prosecutors charged Woods with second-degree assault. He was still on probation at the time of the allegations.
At an arraignment Friday, Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent set bail at $750,000. On Tuesday, the suspect remained in the Snohomish County Jail.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
Need help?
If you or someone you know needs a safe place to talk because of domestic abuse, you can call Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County at 425-25-ABUSE (425-252-2873). The line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Call takers are there to help, not to tell you what to do.
You can also reach out to the Providence Intervention Center for Assault and Abuse: 425-252-4800.
If you are worried about being heard on the phone, you can text 911.
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