ARLINGTON — At sentencing nearly 25 years ago for the stabbing deaths of a father and son, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Charles French told Chad Walton something that would ring in his mind for years.
French, who died in 2004, told Walton, then 19, he could still be a good man. French decided Walton would spend the rest of his life in prison, without the hope of parole.
Back in Snohomish County Superior Court on Friday, Walton, now 44, said he became that good man the judge pushed him to turn into.
Because of that, Judge Jennifer Langbehn gave Walton the chance of release, sentencing him to 32 years amid a legal movement to recognize the immaturity of young men convicted of murder.
For months, Walton had been planning to kill Herbert Joyce, 55, and his 17-year-old son, Westley, according to court records. He’d bought a knife, with the thought of using it to kill them. Herbert Joyce was an idol of his, Walton later told investigators.
“I’ve wanted what he’s had for a long time,” Walton reportedly said in a police interview.
On Christmas Eve 1997, the Arlington man followed through on his plan.
That morning, Walton went to the Joyce home on 150th Street NE, according to court papers. He smoked some marijuana with the father and repaid a $450 debt.
Then he told Herbert Joyce he needed to run back to his house to get an air hose. He went back to his Burn Road house, where he grabbed the hose and the knife he’d bought.
“I pictured in my head what I was gonna do,” Walton later told detectives. “Cause I’d just left Herb’s house and I’d seen where everybody was and what they were doing.”
When he got back, Walton gave Herbert Joyce the air hose. He went to Westley’s room, ostensibly to wake up the 17-year-old.
Instead, Walton stabbed the son in the neck, causing him to gasp for air and call for his dad, court records say.
Herbert Joyce reportedly came around the corner to help, so Walton stabbed him too.
Walton took the father’s wallet. He also tried to find the combination to their safe, knowing there was money in it. He couldn’t get in it, but stole a knife, a handgun and hundreds of dollars. He told police he later burned the money “cause it had blood on it.”
He reported thinking it was the “perfect scheme.” He thought he was “put on Earth” to be like the protagonist from the movie “Scarface” by killing people, stealing their money and getting away with it.
“I thought wrong,” Walton reportedly added.
In the police interview, Walton also said he was sorry for the killings.
“I feel like let down that my mom has to look at me, that’s what I’m feeling right now,” he told detectives. “I feel remorse. I feel that I’ve done (something) that nobody can do.”
‘Fundamentally better-wired brain’
A couple days after the killings, a bystander found a backpack with blood-stained clothing, a bloody knife and a wallet with Herbert Joyce’s ID. It also contained an Anaheim Mighty Ducks jacket that helped police identify Walton as their suspect.
In March 1998, Walton pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated first-degree murder.
The plea meant he only had one possible sentence: life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But a 2021 state Supreme Court ruling opened the door to change that. In the decision known as Monschke, the court ruled judges must consider the age of defendants in sentencing.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 “children are constitutionally different from adults for purposes of sentencing.” In Washington, the Monschke decision extends that thinking to 18-, 19- and 20-year-old defendants. It is part of a broader reform movement to give more leniency in sentencing for younger people, whose brains are still developing.
“The difference between a 19-year-old and a 25-year-old is not just six years of accumulated experience,” Dr. Mark Cunningham, a psychologist, said in court Friday. “The 25-year-old has a fundamentally better wired brain.”
The psychologist noted drug use from a young age, domestic violence and sexual abuse compounded the defendant’s immaturity.
Walton is just the latest defendant to get a reduced sentence for a Snohomish County murder committed as a teenager.
In a few cases over the past year, judges have changed life sentences without the possibility of parole to imminent freedom.
Another man, Brandon White, is set to get resentenced later this month in the 2001 fatal stabbing of an Everett woman in a home invasion. Arguments were made in the case Thursday.
‘Better man’
In his first years in prison, Walton received many infractions for violence, leading to solitary confinement, according to court records. In 2004, a woman who he was friends with had a daughter. But the mother wouldn’t let Walton into her life until he turned his around.
After taking lots of classes, the mother and daughter started to visit. Walton and the woman eventually got married. They’ve reportedly since divorced.
Walton became a teacher in prison. He’s now working on getting his associate degree. He is a low risk for recidivism, Cunningham testified.
In court Friday, prosecutors pushed Judge Langbehn to maintain the previous sentence.
In court filings, deputy prosecutor Jennifer DeJong noted the difference between prior cases and this one. Others worked with accomplices, only provided the murder weapon or had a strong reason, such as the victim allegedly assaulting the suspect’s girlfriend.
Lyndsy Joyce, the sister of Westley and the daughter of Herbert, sobbed as she pleaded with the judge to keep Walton in prison.
“The facts are Chad ruined my life,” she said. “I still have not dealt with the trauma of it all. And this has really set me back with any hopes I have in your system to make sure justice is kept. I don’t understand how he should get a second chance at freedom because I’ll never be free from the grief he’s bestowed on me and my family.”
Walton’s public defender Jennifer Bartlett asked for a 30-year prison term.
At Friday’s hearing, several men released after Monschke despite life sentences for murder spoke in support of Walton. They said he made them better men.
“He’s not going to let you down,” said Christopher Blystone, who was 18 when he killed a pharmacy clerk in the Spokane area in 1986. “He’s changed so much. He’s grown so much.”
Langbehn delivered some relief to the defendant, reducing the sentence to 32 years. He’s been in custody for over 25.
She said society failed Walton, and, in turn, the Joyce family.
After the judge announced the ruling, the Joyce family immediately left the courtroom.
Upon release, Walton plans to live with his grandmother in Marysville and work at his brother’s business.
“I did become that better man Judge French believed that I could be,” he said in court, crying. “For the first time in my life, I feel pride when I look at myself in the mirror.”
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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