When a Snohomish County Superior Court jury resumed deliberations Friday, it took the panel two hours to convict an Everett man of seven felony counts that could result in a prison sentence of 30 years or more.
Richard James Upchurch, 24, of Everett will be sentenced March 2 for kidnapping, burglary, robbery and assault in a 2004 attack on a Marysville family to steal a NASCAR racing jacket.
The jury got the case Thursday, but Judge James Allendoerfer dismissed one of the jurors because she had heard some information about the case outside the courtroom. She also mentioned some of what she had heard to the other jurors.
An alternate juror who had sat through the trial was called in to join the others and start deliberations over on Friday.
Upchurch was convicted of two counts of first-degree robbery, one count each of first-degree burglary and first-degree kidnapping, and three counts of second-degree assault. Jurors also found he or an accomplice was armed with a firearm at the time.
He’s the third person to be convicted in the home-invasion robbery on July 27, 2004. One was convicted by a judge after a trial and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. The alleged ringleader, Charles Lloyd Hiatt, 35, of Marysville, pleaded guilty in late December and could receive about 23 years behind bars when he is sentenced next week. Hiatt pleaded guilty to one count each of robbery, burglary and kidnapping.
A fourth defendant is expected to go to trial soon.
Earlier this week, three members of the Marysville family painted a vivid picture of the brutal attack by masked men, at least one of whom had a gun. The weapon was pointed at the heads of a man, woman and a 15-year-old boy.
Later, the man was bound, put in his own van and driven toward Granite Falls by two of the invaders. A state trooper thwarted the abduction when he tried to pull over the van because of a burned-out headlight.
The prime object of the heist was to get a racing jacket signed by NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. The jacket had once belonged to the ex-husband of Hiatt’s girlfriend, prosecutors contend.
Deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow also argued that the homeowner had been rude to Hiatt’s girlfriend, and the bandits wanted “to teach this fellow a lesson.”
Seattle defense lawyer David Roberson argued that his client didn’t participate in the crimes despite police testimony that Upchurch admitted being in on the planning session and going to the door of the Marysville home.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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