Herald staff
Here’s a prepared statement from the family of Snohomish County sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Kinard, one of two men murdered in August 1994 by Charles Ben Finch:
"We all have choices in our lives. With choices, there are consequences. The defendant was convicted of assault and battery with a deadly weapon. He chose to drive a car while drunk and killed one person. He was convicted. He chose to brutally rape (an elderly) Seattlite and ruined her life. He was convicted. He chose to burglarize others twice, and he was convicted. He chose to kill a blind man while he was eating his dinner with no more greeting than "This!" as he pulled the trigger. He also swore to kill a cop. He did. He was sentenced to death over six years ago. He has tried to commit suicide for the second time in these trials in Snohomish County without favorable results. This man has cost Snohomish County citizens and the state of Washington alone hundreds of thousands of dollars. He is now in the hospital in intensive care, certainly costing several thousand dollars a day. We hope this ends soon.
"We have hoped for the death penalty again. That did not happen. It is inconceivable to our minds with all the evidence and his admission of guilt to the jury of committing the two killings that it would not have resulted in the death penalty.
"We want to express our thanks and gratitude to Michael Downes, Helene Blume, Joe Ward and all those behind the scene in the prosecutor’s office for their diligent, meticulous and dedicated preparation for this case. We know many hours of personal time have gone into preparing for this trial.
"Finch’s death will not erase our loss!"
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