Turgeon, follower get mistrial after jury deadlocks

Published 9:00 pm Monday, May 21, 2001

Herald Staff

EVERETT – A lone juror led Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Joseph Thibodeau to declare a mistrial today in the murder trial of two members of a now-defunct religious sect.

Lawyers will meet Thursday to set a schedule for a new trial against Christopher Turgeon, 37, and Blaine Applin, 30.

“I’m saddened and frustrated, as I’m sure many are,” deputy prosecutor David Kurtz said. “Obviously we are not going to let this drop.”

At about 11:50 a.m., jurors sent a note to Thibodeau telling him they were deadlocked 11-1.

“We see no prospects for unanimity,” the note said.

Turgeon and Applin are charged with murder in the March 1998 shooting death of a Mountlake Terrace man.

Turgeon and Applin are former members of a cult-like religious group called The Gatekeepers, which Turgeon led, first in Snohomish County, and later near San Diego, Calif.

The pair are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Dan Jess, 40, a former member of the group.

Turgeon and Applin insist the killing was justified and ordered by God.

Prosecutors counter it was cold-blooded murder, and that Turgeon and Applin drove from the Gatekeepers’ former home in Southern California and ambushed Jess in his home because he could expose the group’s financial frauds.

Lawyers for both defendants tried to convince jurors that the pair are innocent by reason of insanity. The defense takes advantage of an aspect of Washington law that allows lawyers to argue the alleged killers are blameless because their free will was overcome by what they saw as a holy decree.

Applin shot Jess while Turgeon drove the getaway car, jurors have been told. The killing was just one of a series of crimes across two states, which culminated in July 1998 with the pair being arrested in California after a robbery led to a police chase that involved gunfire.

Applin and Turgeon already are facing lengthy prison terms for their California crimes.