EVERETT — A man was sentenced this week to just over 10 years in prison after he was accused of hitting and killing another man with his car on purpose on Highway 99.
In November 2022, Tod Archibald, now 52, and Glenn Starks, 50, got into an argument over the sale of a car at Reborn RV in the 12800 block of Highway 99, where Starks worked part-time, according to court filings.
Starks spit in Archibald’s face and punched him, according to court documents. A witness called it a glancing blow. Archibald didn’t retaliate, instead saying he’d get police to arrest Starks for assault.
After the confrontation, however, Archibald repeatedly told a neighbor he was going to kill Starks, according to charging papers. On one occasion, he mentioned using a sword. On another, a fire.
The threats so alarmed the neighbor that he told Starks about them on Dec. 2, 2022. Starks reportedly said he wasn’t afraid of Archibald.
The following day, Starks was planning to open up Kirkland RV Sales at 13111 Highway 99 in the morning, according to court documents. Snow had accumulated along the shoulder of the highway, so Starks went to shovel it.
When his coworkers showed up later that morning, they didn’t see Starks. They only found a Pontiac G6 with significant damage to the front end, according to the charges.
Surveillance footage showed the Pontiac, driven by Archibald on Highway 99, approached Starks, who was still shoveling snow.
The car abruptly veered right toward him, according to court documents. Starks could then be seen “cartwheeling in the air” above the RVs parked at the bottom of an embankment, deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote in the charges. Starks died at the scene.
After the crash, Archibald fled, the footage reportedly showed.
Five days later, police arrested him at his home. Prosecutors charged Archibald with second-degree murder and hit-and-run fatality.
In court filings, Archibald’s public defender, Rachel Ryon, wrote her client and Starks were “friendly acquaintances” who used drugs together. She reported they made amends after the confrontation. Ryon claimed Archibald was stopping to ask Starks for drugs before hitting him, but lost control on the icy road, panicked and fled. He was “ashamed of his actions,” she wrote.
Despite these arguments, last month, Archibald entered an Alford plea, meaning he doesn’t admit his guilt but acknowledges that, based on the evidence, a jury likely would convict him of second-degree murder. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the hit-and-run charge.
Archibald had no felony history.
He has several misdemeanor violations, but none since 2009, court records show.
Under state sentencing guidelines, Archibald faced between 10¼ years and 18⅓ years behind bars. The prosecution and defense agreed to recommend the low end of that range. Snohomish County Superior Court Judge William Steffener followed the recommendation.
Archibald had been in custody in the Snohomish County Jail since his arrest.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
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