EVERETT — Two brothers are haunted not only by how their mother was taken but by who was responsible for the deadly beating.
Karen Harris was a loving mom who lived her life for her children. She welcomed people with open arms and never let a guest go away hungry, her son wrote in a letter to Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair.
“It hurts so much to think about her. Not just because she’s gone. Not just the way it happened. But because it was family who did it,” the man wrote.
David Thorsen, the slain woman’s brother, was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison for the June 8, 2103 killing in Arlington. He pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder.
Lawyers recommended a nearly 13-year sentence as part of the plea agreement. While Fair gave Thorsen, 52, credit for sparing his family the hardship of a trial, the judge said she couldn’t ignore some particularly disturbing elements of the crime.
Harris, 53, was repeatedly punched and kicked. Thorsen hauled her body out to a field behind a riding lawn mower. He lied to Harris’ distraught son who came looking for his mother when she didn’t answer her phone. Thorsen drove his sister’s car to the grocery store, where he used his mother’s debit card to purchase alcohol.
“This is indeed a family tragedy,” Fair said.
Thorsen’s surviving sisters asked the judge not to show the defendant any leniency.
“This man, David Thorsen, is not my brother. He is a murderer,” one sister said Thursday. “He deserves the full punishment for this crime.”
Thorsen began to cry as a second sister talked about the devastation his actions caused. There was no reason to hurt their sister. No amount of bad breaks in life gave him the right to assassinate her, the woman said.
Thorsen on Thursday apologized.
The murder added more pain to an already grieving family, the judge was told.
Harris was killed the same day her elderly mother’s body was found at the bottom of the basement stairs. The medical examiner later concluded that Betty Thorsen’s death was consistent with a fall. Their father had died two months earlier. The King County medical examiner ruled Jack Thorsen’s death an accident from “a presumed fall.”
Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives have not referred any charges to the prosecutor’s office in connection with those deaths.
Thorsen had been living with his parents.
Harris came to the house after learning of her mother’s death. She stayed after authorities left. Neighbors reported hearing screaming from the property that afternoon. Several hours later, Thorsen used his mother’s debit card to withdraw $500. He also bought groceries, including several bottles of alcohol from a nearby Safeway.
Harris’ son was worried that he hadn’t heard from his mother after he found out about his grandmother’s death. He filed a missing person’s report.
Thorsen apparently was attempting to end his own life by breathing exhaust fumes from his car when a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy approached him to investigate Harris’ disappearance.
Police found letters that indicated the Thorsen was angry with his mother, Harris and his brother, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Hal Hupp wrote in court papers.
Harris’ body was found under a blanket in a nearby field.
“My life will never be the same,” her son wrote. “David took my mother’s life. He took my family. He took the only parent that raised me and loved me. I miss her every day.”
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
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