Everett man pleads guilty in 1990 killing
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, July 28, 2005
Fifteen years ago this month, a gun-toting Robert R. Tolbert confronted two men in a north Everett parking lot.
After an argument over whether the two had been tampering with his car, Tolbert shot and killed Jay Jones and seriously wounded Jeffrey Fisher.
A Snohomish County Superior Court jury convicted Tolbert of first-degree assault and second-degree murder. The murder charge was filed under the theory that the death occurred during an assault and there was no intention to kill.
For the second time in a decade and a half, Tolbert, 38, stood before Judge James Allendoerfer Thursday facing murder charges for killing Jones. This time, he pleaded guilty.
The first conviction was overturned after two state Supreme Court decisions invalidated scores of murder convictions around the state.
In April, deputy prosecutor Randy Yates filed new second-degree murder and assault charges against Tolbert for killing Jones.
Under a plea agreement worked out between Yates and public defender Damian Klauss, Tolbert could shave two years off his original sentence by accepting the deal. No matter what, he will still have to serve another year in prison.
The lawyers agreed to recommend the low end of the sentencing range for both the assault and murder, but Allendoerfer emphasized that he could impose a higher term when he sentences Tolbert Aug. 23 since the Everett man has never taken full responsibility for the killing.
Tolbert acknowledged that the evidence is strong against him and it’s likely that a jury would find him guilty. He also said he wanted to take advantage of the plea agreement.
According to court papers, Tolbert had been upset in July 1990 about his girlfriend leaving him. His roommate told police that Tolbert had threatened to shoot anyone who got into a confrontation with him.
When police arrested him after the shootings, officers found three loaded rifles and a pistol near a window overlooking the 1300 block of Broadway and the parking lot.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
