Three charged in fatal stabbing at Everett school

EVERETT — Donald Barker was still clutching $30 when paramedics began efforts to save his life.

Barker, 37, likely was beaten and stabbed to death over the money. Prosecutors on Friday charged three men with second-degree murder for the Dec. 27 slaying.

The accused are Jimmy Ruiz, 44; William Gobat and Patrick Griffiths, both 34. Prosecutors allege that the trio attacked Barker outside Madison Elementary School. A neighbor found him lying in a grassy area. He told the man he’d been “jumped” by a few guys and he was hurt badly. Barker died on the way to the hospital.

The medical examiner found numerous injuries, including two deep stab wounds to the chest and back. He also suffered a serious blow to the head, court papers said.

Phone records indicate that Barker likely had gone to the school to buy drugs from a woman who lives nearby. Additional phone records show that she called and sent text messages to Gobat in the minutes leading up to the attack, including one message that read, “Get that cash I need it.”

Everett detectives learned that the men returned to the woman’s house after the attack. One witness reported that the men washed their clothes in the shower. Ruiz allegedly handed a woman a knife and asked her to hide it, court papers said. A witness told detectives Ruiz re-enacted how he had stabbed a man at the school, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Matt Baldock wrote in court papers.

When questioned by detectives, Ruiz and Griffiths had conflicting accounts of their involvement. Both denied stabbing Barker or being the primary attacker. Ruiz said he was kicked in the chin while trying to break up the attack. Griffiths first told detectives that he went back to the car when he saw the other two attack a man. He later admitted that he punched Barker several times so the others wouldn’t think he was a wimp, Baldock wrote.

Gobat declined to speak with investigators.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.