Hells Angel gets 15 years for role in murder, racketeering

Published 10:52 pm Wednesday, December 19, 2007

SEATTLE — Joshua Binder knew Michael “Santa” Walsh was going to be killed.

Binder, a Hells Angel at the time, was there that night in 2001. He was ready to stop Walsh from escaping and keep anyone from interfering. He helped dump Walsh’s body on the side of the road after Rodney Rollness, also a Hells Angel, shot the Arlington man.

Binder, 32, of North Bend, on Wednesday was sentenced to 15 years in prison in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

He was found guilty of racketeering charges in June after a three week trial featuring more than 100 witnesses, some of whom have since assumed new identities out of fear of retribution for testifying against four members of the Washington Nomads Chapter of the Hells Angels.

Binder in July pleaded guilty to an additional racketeering charge and admitted he was involved in Walsh’s murder and the robbery of an Everett man in 1999.

Rollness, of Snohomish, was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year for killing Walsh and additional racketeering charges. He denies shooting Walsh and has vowed to win his freedom on appeal.

The conviction marks the first courtroom win for the Snohomish County sheriff’s cold case homicide unit, made up of detectives Jim Scharf and Dave Heitzman.

Monroe police detective Barry Hatch helped uncover solid evidence needed to solve the Walsh murder, the sheriff’s detectives said. He also turned up evidence that the men and other members of the Hells Angels were trafficking in stolen motorcycles.

Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik on Wednesday recognized the suffering of the Walsh family.

“The tragedy of these crimes is not something where they will just turn the page on,” Lasnik said. “That pain and those tears will be as fresh 10 years from now … 15 years from now, as they are today.”

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.