Jury hears King case sides

By Scott North

Herald Writer

It is a dark tale, the story of a young woman who traveled far from home in search of a better life and instead wound up in a shallow grave.

It is the story of a middle-aged man who wanted a wife and children, but now finds himself accused of murder.

A Snohomish County jury Wednesday was told it will hear more about mail-order brides, jailhouse snitches, immigration law, a murderous cult leader and a convicted child molester as testimony begins in the trial of Indle Gifford King Jr.

The Mountlake Terrace man, 40, is charged with first-degree murder in the September 2000 death of his wife, Anastasia S. King, 20.

Anastasia King disappeared after returning from a visit to her parents’ home in Kyrgyzstan in the former Soviet Union. Her body was found three months later in a shallow grave near Marysville.

Indle King was angry with his young wife because she was planning to divorce him, so he recruited a tenant in his home, convicted sex offender Daniel K. Larson, to strangle her with a necktie, deputy prosecutor Coleen St. Clair said in opening statements.

The evidence will show that Indle King then engaged in "deceitful, scheming and manipulative" conduct to hide the death by claiming his wife had simply disappeared.

But Indle King’s attorney, David Allen, said no physical evidence links his client to the killing, just lies by Larson.

"She was his princess. He was her puppy dog, willing to do anything she asked him to," Allen said of Indle King.

Lawyers on both sides made it clear that Larson, 21, will play a pivotal role in the trial.

St. Clair devoted considerable time in her hour-long opening statement detailing what Larson has told police about Anastasia King’s death. She also disclosed that Larson has a long history of trouble, spending much of his life locked up for a variety of sex offenses and mental problems.

"There is no defense of Dan Larson. He’s a freak," St. Clair said.

Indle King had gone to Kyrgyzstan to retrieve his wife, even while he was filing court papers and other documents claiming he had no idea where she was, the prosecutor said.

Larson told police that the evening Indle King and his wife got back to the United States, he received a call from his landlord telling him to prepare to kill the young woman, St. Clair alleged.

Not long after the couple walked into the home, Indle King got a necktie and gave it to Larson, telling him to wait in the garage. He then led his wife into the room and put her in a bear hug while Larson began strangling her, the prosecutor said.

The struggling trio wound up in a hallway. The 5-foot-7, 270-pound Indle King held down his wife during the four minutes it took to choke her to death, St. Clair said.

Police began investigating Anastasia King’s disappearance after she failed to phone her family. Indle King became a suspect after he repeatedly lied to police and others about a host of details, the prosecutor said. Since his arrest, he has repeatedly tried to get people, in and out of jail, to help him manufacture alibis or dissuade witnesses from testifying against him.

Allen countered that Indle King is the victim of inmates who are trying to curry favor with prosecutors.

He said the case is destined to crumble because its foundation rests on the credibility of Larson, whom he contends implicated Indle King to save his own skin.

Larson actually had a motive to kill Anastasia King, Allen said. The young woman wanted to kick him out of the house, and Larson feared being homeless. He also has made statements that Anastasia King needed to die because she had engaged in adultery, the lawyer said.

Allen pointed to a letter Larson sent Christopher Turgeon, another inmate, in which he admitted killing Anastasia King alone, and citing Scripture to support his actions.

The letter was sent to Turgeon, the 38-year-old former leader of a violent sect called the Gatekeepers, which was formerly based in Snohomish County. Turgeon and another member of the group are now serving lengthy sentences for a string of robberies in California and the murder of a Mountlake Terrace man who had been a former cult member.

St. Clair told jurors that Turgeon manipulated Larson into writing the letter, and that the man has religious beliefs that make him the "Christian equivalent of Osama bin Laden."

Allen objected to that characterization of Turgeon, and Judge George Bowden told jurors to disregard the comment.

The trial is expected to last through late February.

You can call Herald Writer Scott North at 425-339-3431

or send e-mail to north@heraldnet.com.

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