Greene weeps over life term in prison

William Bergen Greene knew that a judge was about to sentence him to prison for life. He wept.

So did his wife, Cathy Greene, who sat in a Snohomish County courtroom watching her husband of eight years. And his defense attorney, who said she still doesn’t know the truth about a 1994 sexual attack, also became emotional as she addressed Superior Court Judge Richard Thorpe.

She’s not an expert in the field of multiple personality disorder, attorney Marybeth Dingledy told Thorpe, and she doesn’t know if it was Greene or one of his "personals" who attacked his female therapist.

"I can tell you I got to know Bill Greene. … It’s amazing what Bill Greene can do to people," Dingledy said.

On Thursday, a jury convicted Greene, 49, of indecent liberties and first-degree kidnapping for the attack on the therapist. The defense sought an insanity verdict, claiming that it was actually one of Greene’s 24 personalities — and not the "host" Bill Greene — who committed the act.

The jury didn’t buy that and found that Greene committed the act knowingly and intentionally.

It was the second time Thorpe had sentenced Greene to life without release under the state’s three-strikes law for persistent offenders. A federal judge overturned a 1995 conviction and sentence on the same counts, giving Greene the just-completed five-week trial using his multiple personality defense.

Greene has previous convictions for auto theft, burglary, sodomy and two attacks on women that were similar to the attack on the therapist.

Since age 8, he’s been in a foster home, institution, jail or prison all but about five years, deputy prosecutor Paul Stern said.

"I think the jury told him who he really is," Stern told the judge. "He is a danger. He’s a person for whom we build prisons."

Greene is bright, charming and a gifted artist — traits that can be envied, Stern said. Still, because of the harm he does, Green deserves to remain in prison and "not on the streets hurting people," he said.

Everett police detective Jim Phillips sat through the trial and told the judge in a letter he has lived with the case for nine years. He said he remained in contact with two previous Greene victims, and said "the three-strikes law was written for people like Bill Greene."

The sentence was academic because of Greene’s past offenses. Still, Dingledy and co-counsel Teresa Conlan addressed the court.

"Bill Greene is a very complex man," a tearful Dingledy said. "He never gave me reason to doubt."

Conlan told the judge that Greene needs treatment, not prison.

"As a society, we can make Bill Greene whole again," she said.

Conlan said she saw Greene’s personalities, and she saw the love he has for his wife.

"To me, this is a very sad day," Conlan said.

Cathy Greene told the judge that the jury made the wrong decision.

"I’m not a victim, and I love Bill Greene with all my heart, and I always will," Cathy Greene said.

Through Friday’s sentencing hearing, Greene sometimes sat with a blank stare, looking down. Sometimes he wept openly, grasping at a box of tissues. The judge asked if he wanted to speak to the court.

"No, sir," he said simply.

When Thorpe pronounced sentence, Greene stood between his attorneys and responded, "I understand."

Although already sentenced to life, Greene has more legal problems. He was whisked from the Snohomish County Courthouse to the King County Jail, and is to be arraigned Dec. 2 in the 1979 strangulation death of Sylvia Durante, a waitress he met in an art class.

King Country prosecutors last year charged him with first-degree murder in the death after genetic evidence pointed to him.

Dan Satterberg, a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor’s Office, said it will probably be months before a trial date is set.

Privately, Stern wished Greene luck. Greene predicted that he would eventually win a new trial, Stern said. Greene was acting as his own attorney when he convinced a federal judge to give him a second trial in 2001.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.