Shipyard shooter to get life in prison by default

Associated Press

SEATTLE — A jury failed to reach a decision Friday on whether Kevin Cruz, convicted of murder in the 1999 Lake Union shipyard shootings, should be put to death, which means he will instead receive the only other possible sentence: life without parole.

The 12-person jury deliberated for about four hours Friday, a day after Cruz, a paranoid schizophrenic, gave a rambling, disjointed speech in which he maintained his innocence and said he wasn’t asking for mercy.

"I think he saved his own life, whether he knows it or not," said one of his lawyers, Eric Lindell. "He stood up there and people saw the extent of his mental illness."

The jury was split 8-4 in favor of the death penalty.

The same jury convicted Cruz, 32, of aggravated first-degree and attempted murder last month for fatally shooting two men and wounding two others at the Northlake Shipyard on Nov. 3, 1999.

King County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kessler dismissed the jury and scheduled another court session for Tuesday, when the sentence will be entered. Cruz’s lawyers also plan to appeal his conviction.

Asked whether he was satisfied by the outcome, defense lawyer Tony Savage replied: "Satisfied? That might not be the word. I’m relieved. I’m not satisfied with a system that puts people to death."

Cruz, dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, watched as each juror filed into the room. Before the verdict was read, he glanced around, smirking at times. He cursed quietly as bailiffs led him out of the courtroom.

Deputy prosecutor Timothy Bradshaw commended jurors, saying they were faced with an extraordinarily difficult decision. "I’m not disappointed at all," Bradshaw said. "I think justice was served. I think the system worked, and to some degree we now have closure."

Prosecutors said Cruz had a grudge against workers at the Northlake Shipyard, where he did odd jobs during a four-month stint before being fired in January 1999.

They said that on the morning of Nov. 3, 1999, he walked into an office at the shipyard wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses, then fired 11 rounds, killing Peter Giles, 27, and Russell Brisendine, 43, and wounding Jaromir Mach and Patrick Ming.

Brisendine’s mother, Rene Brisendine, said she would accept the verdict. "He was guilty, and that was the most important decision," she said.

George Giles, the father of Peter Giles, said he wished the jury had sentenced Cruz to death, but added, "They’ve reached their verdict and we can live with it."

He added that he would never forgive Cruz.

"The anger at that man will never go away, but he’s in a place where he should be," Giles said. "We’ve waited for this part of the ordeal to be over, and it’s over. … But there will never be complete closure."

Jurors refused to comment. A King County sheriff’s deputy shouted, "Nobody’s talking!" as he led them out of the courtroom.

In closing arguments Thursday afternoon, deputy prosecutor Steve Fogg told jurors that Cruz was in control at the time of the shootings.

Cruz planned the attack, then escaped and changed his appearance — evidence he was organized and not affected by his illness, Fogg said.

Savage stressed how mentally ill his client is and urged jurors not to give him the death penalty.

"He’s sick, and you all know it," Savage told the jury. "It is the most serious form of mental illness there is."

The murder weapon, a 9mm Glock, was found in Cruz’s backpack in Gas Works Park near the shipyard two months after the shootings. When Cruz was arrested, he identified the backpack as his, but not the gun and holster.

The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab used DNA technology to link Cruz to the items in the backpack.

The jury convicted Cruz on Feb. 11.

On Thursday, Cruz paced as he told jurors: "Before I was asking for mercy. That’s at your discretion. I ain’t asking for mercy."