EVERETT — David Magnett Jr. spoke to detectives for about two hours and 15 minutes after they caught up with him trying to cross the state line.
It was in the last 15 minutes that Magnett, 49, finally confessed that he confronted Donald Hosier, 62, and killed the man. Magnett didn’t mean for Hosier to die, he said. Magnett told detectives he was coming to the aid of his friend, a woman who complained about Hosier’s behavior.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Anita Farris recently sentenced Magnett to eight years in prison. Magnett pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter, admitting that he recklessly caused Hosier’s death Oct. 29 near a trail on some wooded property in Sultan.
He then stole the victim’s car and headed toward Idaho. Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives arrested him before he crossed the state line.
Prosecutors first charged Magnett with second-degree murder, alleging that he intentionally killed the victim. At the time, prosecutors didn’t have the full medical examiner’s report. That report later revealed that Hosier had significant health problems, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Paul Stern said.
Given all the facts, it was a strong likelihood that a jury would have concluded that the killing was unintentional, Stern said.
Yet, it shouldn’t be overlooked that “he did strangle another man to death with his bare hands,” the deputy prosecutor said.
The killing appeared to stem from a conflict between Hosier and one of Magnett’s friends. The woman, Magnett and others were drinking alcohol in a travel trailer on the Sultan property on Oct. 28. Numerous people lived on the property in tents or trailers. The woman said she received numerous harassing texts from Hosier. She later discovered various items taken from her camp, and blamed Hosier for the missing items, according to court papers. She relayed her suspicions to Magnett, who said he’d go check on her campsite.
He returned about 15 minutes later and was out of breath and sweaty. He told the group that Hosier attacked him with a bat and he choked the older man out. Magnett told his drinking buddies that Hosier had left the area after the fight.
The next morning Hosier’s body was discovered lying against a tree. He had obvious blows to his face and head and some trauma to his neck. There was a baseball bat lying nearby.
“I want to give my condolences to the family. I’m sorry for what I did,” Magnett said before he was sentenced Thursday. “All I was trying to do was protect my friend.”
Magnett faced up to 9½ years in prison. His attorney Jennifer Bartlett and Stern agreed to recommend an 8-year sentence in exchange for the defendant’s guilty plea.
Farris reluctantly agreed to follow the lawyers’ recommendation.
“I think this is really low for taking the life of a human being,” she said. “I don’t care what they did. It’s not your job to take the law into your hands.”
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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