In addition to the horror of the bare facts, the October 2008 drowning death of Britney Galindez, 17, at the hands of gang member Robert Langendoerfer has other troubling aspects.
On Dec. 19, Langendoerfer, 22, entered an Alford plea to first-degree manslaughter and two counts of intimidating a witness, meaning he didn’t admit guilt but acknowledged a jury would’ve likely found him guilty. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Prosecutors, who initially filed a first-degree murder charge, admitted problems with the case, saying they were concerned the witnesses — other gang members — could change their story at trial.
Public defender Sonja Hardenbrook told Superior Court Judge Linda Krese that Langendoerfer believed police botched the investigation and Galindez’s family will never know what really happened.
Actually, Galindez’s family knows exactly what happened, because the witnesses told police the same story. The detectives who investigated Galindez’s death didn’t “botch” the investigation — they quickly tracked down Langendoerfer, the witnesses and the car involved. But what the witnesses had to say points to a disturbing missed opportunity by police to stop the car full of partying gang members shortly before Galindez’s death.
After midnight on Oct. 14, 2008, Edmonds police pulled over the car containing Galindez and five males. News reports don’t say why the vehicle was stopped, but that the driver was ticketed for driving without insurance. The witnesses later told detectives they had been driving around Edmonds, drinking and smoking marijuana all night. During the stop, Galindez vomited on or near Langendoerfer while the officer was back at the patrol car.
This raises several questions: The car didn’t smell of alcohol or marijuana? Of vomit? None of the occupants appeared intoxicated? The presence of an underage girl, sick or otherwise, with five males didn’t prompt an inquiry into her well-being? Is someone ticketed for not having insurance allowed to drive off?
It was the police stop, and the vomiting, the witnesses said, that sparked Langendoerfer’s rage.
The group headed to Lake Ballinger, where Galindez was choked, stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver and thrown into the lake. She tried to swim away, but Lagendoerfer waded in after her and held her underwater for about five minutes until she died, three witnesses told police. Langendoerfer told the witnesses he would kill them if they told anyone.
That’s what happened. We’re left with a killer who gets to maintain his innocence under his plea agreement. And unanswered “what if” questions regarding that traffic stop.
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