Brent Luyster was sentenced Monday in federal court to serve 10 years in prison for illegal weapons possession after he completes his three life sentences for triple murder.
In November, a federal jury found Luyster, 38, guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition following a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. He was acquitted on another count of being a felon in possession of ammunition.
During his trial, Luyster allegedly plotted to kill the judge or a prison guard.
According to the sentencing memorandum, the U.S. Marshals Service received a tip that Luyster told another inmate “something big was going to happen in court.” The inmate was subsequently interviewed and said Luyster told him he wanted to stay in federal prison because he liked it better than state prison.
The inmate said Luyster claimed he was planning to kill the judge or an officer at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and said he had been smuggling items between court and the federal detention center, including a large paper clip. Luyster’s cell was searched and officers found two makeshift weapons — a knife and something that looked like a screwdriver. The knife was made by cutting out the frame from his cell bed, the sentencing memorandum states.
“The hatred and violence embodied by this defendant is truly abhorrent,” U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran said in a written statement. “This sentence is a safety net — to hold him accountable for his federal crimes — but also to ensure that regardless of his state convictions and sentence, Brent Luyster will remain locked up to protect our communities.”
Triple murder
Luyster’s now-former girlfriend, Andrea Sibley, 29, was sentenced last spring to about a year in federal prison for purchasing at least nine firearms for him between March 2015 and May 2016 in Clark and Cowlitz counties.
None of those firearms were used in the July 2016 slayings of Luyster’s best friend, Zachary David Thompson, 36; friend Joseph Mark LaMar, 38; and LaMar’s partner, Janell Renee Knight, 43, at LaMar’s home southeast of Woodland. Luyster also shot Thompson’s partner, Breanne Leigh, then 32, in the face, but she survived.
The firearm used in the shooting was never recovered.
Luyster was convicted in Clark County Superior Court of three counts of aggravated murder and is serving three consecutive life sentences, without the possibility of release, plus another nearly 54 years for attempted first-degree murder and first- and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
With the new federal sentence, Luyster will serve a total term of three life sentences plus nearly 64 years, according to the judgment.
Weapons case
Luyster’s federal case stemmed from him using some of the firearms Sibley bought to allegedly assault a former girlfriend in May 2016 at his Longview home. He reportedly punched and pistol-whipped the woman, and fired shots at her as she ran from the home, court records say.
According to evidence presented at his federal trial, Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputies discovered the firearms and ammunition after responding May 16, 2017, for a woman who reported being assaulted. Deputies found Luyster on a hillside behind the house, at which time he surrendered.
Deputies found ammunition in his pockets and recovered a rifle, handgun and shotgun. A search of his home turned up five more rifles and a handgun. Luyster, who had previous felony convictions, had been prohibited from possessing firearms.
Luyster did not testify during his federal trial and was never prosecuted for the alleged assault against his ex-girlfriend.
“The events on May 16, 2017, culminated a long unbroken history of gun-related violence by the defendant, Brent Luyster. Despite being sentenced multiple times for violent felonies, and being advised that he was prohibited from possessing a firearm, Luyster ignored the law and repeatedly acquired firearms and engaged in violent firearm conduct.
“Even while Luyster was on release pending trial for his assault … Luyster armed himself with a .45 caliber handgun, shot and killed three of his friends, and seriously wounded a fourth person,” the government’s sentencing memorandum reads.
Sentencing dispute
The U.S. Attorney’s Office recommended Luyster get 17½ years in federal prison, citing his “actions in this case and his history of using firearms to injure and terrorize others,” the sentencing memorandum reads, adding that Luyster is incapable of reforming.
In its sentencing memorandum, the defense asserted that the “government exercised substantial resources to add more convictions to Mr. Luyster’s record and add more prison time to this three life sentences.”
Defense attorney Casey M. Arbenz, of Puget Law Group, argued the judge should not consider the alleged assault against Luyster’s ex-girlfriend, the ammunition associated with the charge he was acquitted of, or allegations he planned to try to kill the judge or a guard.
“While such allegations are certainly concerning, where no charges, nor evidence or testimony have been brought forward in support of the allegations, and Mr. Luyster has had no opportunity to defend against the accusations, it is requested that this court not consider such conduct in handing down Mr. Luyster’s sentence,” the sentencing memorandum reads.
Arbenz asked that his client receive a little more than nine years in prison.
Luyster, a violent, known white supremacist, has a long criminal history, including racially motivated attacks. In 2001, he beat a black man who came onto his property in search of his dogs. He was convicted four years later of malicious harassment for shooting a black man in the leg. Then, in 2014, he threatened a black man in a bar, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
