Soliciting murder draws 79 years

A former Arlington businessman was sentenced to 79 years in prison Monday for trying to have his ex-wife and members of her family killed in February 2000.

Mitchell Lee Varnell, 43, was convicted on five counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder in July, but his sentencing has been put off for months as he changed attorneys twice and put on motions for a new trial.

With time off for good behavior, he would serve a total of 66 years behind bars, including the nearly two years he’s been in the county jail awaiting trial and sentencing.

Veteran law officers and attorneys say it’s one of the longest sentences in memory for a nonmurder case. Barring a successful appeal, Varnell would be eligible for release when he’s 107.

He was sentenced by trial judge Linda Krese, who turned down defense attorney John Muenster’s bid for an exceptional sentence below the standard sentencing range. Muenster, of Seattle, argued that the state law set sentences too high for the crimes.

Krese said there are no legal grounds to go outside the standard range, and "it’s clear the impetus for these offenses came from Mr. Varnell."

Varnell was convicted of making two attempts to have his ex-wife killed, and one attempt to have her parents and brother killed.

In one instance, he talked to an undercover Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy who posed as a hit man, and jurors got to hear Varnell’s own words in a secretly taped meeting.

"These are very serious offenses and had Mr. Varnell come into contact with someone other than a police officer," the killings might have happened, Krese said.

Deputy prosecutor John Stansell asked the judge to impose the middle of the sentencing range, about an 85-year term.

Varnell’s ex-wife and her father spoke to the judge, asking for a long term. The ex-wife called her ex-husband "dangerous and bitter," partly over a contested divorce in which she got custody of the couple’s two children.

In barely audible tones, two relatives of Varnell said they’d like a term that would allow Varnell freedom someday.

Varnell himself gave a long, rambling account of the divorce and how his ex-wife got custody of the children.

"We’re all victims of this, your honor," he told the judge.

Varnell indicated he will appeal the conviction. Although he apparently doesn’t want Muenster to handle it, the judge told Varnell that Muenster served him well, even though he didn’t win his argument.

Varnell used to run an excavating business in which he and his wife worked. He first tried to get his secretary to kill the ex-wife. Then, after police got wind of the plot, the undercover deputy was brought into the picture.

On the tape, jurors heard Varnell make suggestions on how to get into his ex-wife’s home and how to carry out the murders so they look like accidents.

He told the undercover officer he was afraid one of her other family members would get custody of their children, so he wanted them all wiped out.

At trial, Varnell claimed he still loved his ex-wife and he tried to set up a perilous situation so he could jump in and be the hero, thus fostering reunification.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.

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