YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Yakima County Prosecutor Jim Hagarty says he won’t seek the death penalty against a 29-year-old man accused of bludgeoning three people to death.
Hagarty announced Monday his office doesn’t a strong enough case to seek the death penalty against Kevin Lee Harper. However, he says he is confident pursuing a life sentence without parole against Harper.
The Yakima Herald-Republic says (http://bit.ly/r4SIl5) Harper faces three charges of aggravated first-degree murder in the February deaths of Bill and Pauline Goggin and Bill’s 98-year-old mother, Bettye Goggin at their home in the gated Falcon Ridge community 10 miles west of Yakima.
Defense attorney Pete Mazzone says the prosecutor’s decision is a smart one. He says he’ll continue to work to vindicate Harper.
