EVERETT — Wayne Alpert was sentenced to 19 years in prison on Wednesday for murdering Seaton “Jeff” Baker and assaulting another man.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Marybeth Dingledy said she took into account that Alpert, 61, had apparent mental health issues and no previous criminal history. The sentence falls on the lower end of state guidelines.
It was not the sentence Baker’s friends and family had hoped for. Forrest Dalton, a neighbor who was with Baker the day he was shot, told the court he hopes Alpert “never sees the light of day.”
Tami Dillon was married to Baker for 11 years.
“We were soul mates … When he killed Jeff, he killed part of me,” she told the judge.
On June 11, 2017, Alpert yelled at a Community Transit bus driver and pointed his gun at another rider.
He then wandered into an Marysville apartment complex.
Baker, 59, was with Dalton on a balcony. Baker asked Alpert if he knew anyone there. He came down to talk to Alpert and followed him around a corner. Then gunshots sounded.
One bullet went through Baker’s heart. Seven more rounds were likely fired while Baker was on the ground. Alpert said he then stood over the victim’s body and dropped the magazine onto the victim’s chest.
Police found Alpert on a nearby curb, shouting, “I shot him. I shot him.” His gun was on the ground nearby.
Later, while in custody, Alpert bragged about his marksmanship, likening the shooting to target practice, according to prosecutors. He was convicted by a jury in September of second-degree murder and second- degree assault.
The defense relied heavily on a letter written by a social worker, who saw Alpert in the Snohomish County Jail and who reviewed his life history, including the events leading up to the homicide.
The social worker noted several mental health episodes that took place earlier in 2017 but said the symptoms had abated while Alpert was in the jail.
The defendant’s son told the social worker that his father was becoming more irritable and impulsive before the murder. He was getting into heated confrontations with strangers on the street.
His son said the incidents may have led his father to purchase a gun.
Problems also were brewing at the defendant’s apartment complex in Lynnwood.
A landlord petitioned for an anti-harassment order two days before the shooting, saying Alpert showed signs of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and that he was intimidating.
On the day of the killing, a woman who lived in the same apartment complex wrote an email to management.
“This gentleman has serious challenges that are making myself and other residents feel intimidated and or threatened for our safety and well-being,” she wrote.
After the arrest, a Marysville police officer noted that Alpert spoke erratically. The defendant talked about world travel one moment and murder the next, the officer said.
Deputy prosecutor Jacqueline Lawrence, who asked for a lengthier sentence, argued Wednesday that Alpert was neither acting in self defense nor was he living with mental illness. She referred to a doctor’s review from before trial.
The defendant reportedly told the doctor that he put on an act in jail to receive better accommodations. He also denied hallucinations or paranoia.
“Mr. Alpert knew what he was doing. I don’t think mental health was at play here,” Lawrence said.
On the advice of his defense attorney, Cassie Trueblood, Alpert did not speak at sentencing. Trueblood said he wanted to express “remorse and sympathy.”
“This is a tragedy, a tragedy from start to finish,” she said. But, she continued, that shouldn’t take away from the idea that Alpert had severe mental health issues.
The judge said she could not explain why someone with no criminal history would suddenly, at the age of 59, kill a stranger.
“I do not have any answers for anyone why this happened,” Dingledy said. “Within a span of a few hours, so many lives were changed.”
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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