A Clark County Superior Court judge on Friday reminded Todd Marjama Jr. that he had told detectives he would never do anything to take the mother of his children away.
“But you did exactly that,” Judge Gregory Gonzales told Marjama, before handing down a 16 1/2 -year prison sentence.
Marjama, 29, was convicted last month of first-degree manslaughter in the June 2016 fatal shooting of his wife, Amanda Marjama, at their home in Five Corners. He was originally charged with first-degree murder, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on that charge.
Todd Marjama and his defense attorneys argued that he was attempting to decock a handgun when it discharged — the bullet piercing through the man’s hand and a closed bathroom door before striking his wife in the head.
His attorneys argued he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder on the day of the shooting, despite Marjama repeatedly denying that to investigators and during his testimony at trial.
On Friday, they presented two experts to speak to how his military service, resulting PTSD and a traumatic brain injury contributed to the events of that fatal day. The experts’ testimony elicited angry whispers from Amanda Marjama’s family in the gallery.
Deputy Prosecutor Luka Vitasovic noted that one of the experts previously stated there wasn’t a link between Marjama’s PTSD and the shooting, but then stated the opposite on the stand.
“Frankly, I’ve heard enough of his military experience,” Vitasovic said. “I appreciate it but fail to see the link between it and what happened that day.”
At trial, Vitasovic argued that Marjama intentionally shot his wife during a heated argument and tried to make it look like an accident.
He said that Marjama was being painted as a “hapless victim” when it was his choices that led to Amanda Marjama’s death. He asked for an exceptional sentence above the standard range of 11 1/2 to 13 1/2 years — for a total of 18 1/2 years in prison, because the shooting happened within the sight and sound of minors.
The couple’s children were home at the time of the shooting, and their youngest daughter was inside the bathroom when Amanda Marjama was killed.
The children’s grandmother, Beatrice Diaz, tearfully described the emotional and behavioral issues the couple’s three children have shown in the years since the shooting. They’ve experienced night terrors and meltdowns. Loud noises trigger them, and the youngest makes up stories about her mother, whom she will never really know.
Diaz said she experiences nightmares and depression herself, because of the “instant replay of my daughter’s face in a pool of blood.”
She told Todd Marjama that if he truly suffered from brain damage and issues from his military service, he had no business owning a gun.
“For you to say you fumbled that gun and it went off, is a lie,” Diaz told him.
Attorney Katie Kauffman, of Vancouver Defenders, asked Gonzales to consider Marjama’s military service in requesting a nine-year prison sentence, below the standard range.
“The burden I placed on everyone is undeserving,” Marjama read from a written statement. “I wish I had the courage to tell the doctors I was suffering.”
As he continued to read, a sob escaped from his throat. He then tried to hand the letter to his lawyer Jeff Barrar, of Vancouver Defenders, before deciding to press on.
“I take the blame, and I wish that meant more,” he said.
Through tears, he explained that his wife was the glue that held him together, and now she’s gone. Too upset to carry on, Kauffman finished reading his statement for him.
Afterward, he turned to Amanda Marjama’s family and apologized.
Gonzales told Marjama that he recognizes his PTSD and traumatic brain injury, and that he’s an honorable and disabled veteran. However, he then pointed to an expert’s report that noted Marjama’s military training should have prevented him from handling a firearm in the manner in which he did.
The judge also noted that Marjama was in an ongoing relationship with another woman and was living with her, and that he wanted to divorce his wife.
Gonzales concluded that the facts of the case did not warrant a downward departure from the standard sentencing range: “You do not deserve any leniency from this court.”
After the hearing, Vitasovic said he hopes that with the conclusion of the case “it brings some closure to Amanda’s family and allows them to start moving on.”
