An ex-convict who admitted shooting a Mukilteo man over a debt owed to an escort is suspected of plotting from jail to have the victim killed, Snohomish County prosecutors alleged Monday.
Darwin Lavelle Williams, 32, of Everett should be denied access to phones, letters and visitors while at the county jail in Everett, deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler said during a Snohomish County Superior Court hearing.
In particular, prosecutors want Williams kept away from the escort, an Everett woman who was a key figure in the 2002 murder of Rachel Burkheimer, court papers show.
Williams in November pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder for the Aug. 12 shooting. He faces up to 30 years in prison.
Judge Ronald Castleberry scheduled a hearing Wednesday to consider Stemler’s motion to clamp down on Williams. He also plans to consider whether the defendant should get a new lawyer.
Williams on Monday made clear he doesn’t want public defender Caroline Mann assigned to his case.
After the judge left the courtroom, Williams shouted profanity at her.
“I want to plead guilty, man,” Williams said at one point.
“You’ve already pleaded guilty,” Mann reminded him.
The exchange was heated and confusing because much of Monday’s hearing was taken up by Castleberry exploring whether Williams wanted to withdraw his guilty plea.
Williams has eight prior felonies, including armed robbery. If Williams backs out of the November plea, prosecutors will file more serious charges: attempted first-degree murder. A sentence of 47 years or longer is possible, Stemler said.
Williams took that news in stride. He lost his temper after Castleberry ordered Williams’ jailers to cease allowing visits from a girlfriend.
The woman, Trissa Conner, 27, is the escort who was nearby when the shooting occurred. She’s now a prosecution witness. Williams is barred from having contact with her.
Jail records show she’s visited Williams more than 40 times since his arrest, including a half dozen visits this month, Stemler said.
Castleberry ordered no more contact between the pair.
“And by no contact, I mean none. No phone calls. No messages. No coming over to visit,” the judge said.
Stemler’s wants a court order limiting Williams’ contact to only his attorney and jail staff.
The prosecutor filed an affidavit reporting a jailhouse informant’s claims that Williams offered up to $150,000 to kill the Mukilteo shooting victim.
“The informant stated that Williams discussed various ideas about how to kill the victim,” Stemler wrote. “These ideas included setting up a drug overdose or fake accident. Although the informant did not intend to actually carry out the plan, the informant did agree he would shoot (the victim) if other plans failed.”
The man also claimed Conner knew of the plot, something she denied when confronted by detectives Thursday.
The Mukilteo shooting occurred after the man contacted an escort service and refused to pay when Conner showed up at his home because she didn’t match the photo he saw on the Internet.
A few minutes later, Williams allegedly kicked in the door and demanded money and began shooting, according to court papers.
The man survived and is now in hiding, Stemler said.
Conner, who initially lied to police about the incident, has not been charged.
She also was not charged in the Burkheimer case. The 18-year-old from Marysville was abducted, bound and beaten in Conner’s south Everett house for hours before she was shot to death.
Conner testified that she didn’t call police in 2002 because she was afraid.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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