When the jury announced its verdict Wednesday, the people who loved Rachel Rose Burkheimer wept and smiled at the same time.
The man who ended the life of the 18-year-old Marysville woman was going to prison – the law said forever. That was an answer to her family’s prayers, but not reason to celebrate.
“It’s not happiness. It’s not joy. It’s just relief,” said Rachel’s father, Bill Burkheimer.
A Snohomish County jury convicted John Phillip Anderson, 22, of aggravated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder when he and other members of a local gang kidnapped and killed Burkheimer in September 2002.
Prosecutors alleged the killing was motivated by Anderson’s jealousy over Burkheimer, an ex-girlfriend, dating his rivals, plus paranoia that the 4-foot-11-inch teen somehow posed a threat to the gang.
Anderson repeatedly shot Burkheimer after ordering her to disrobe and climb into a hole he and others had carved off a logging road near Gold Bar, jurors were told.
Anderson allegedly mocked Burkheimer as she said a final prayer. He faces mandatory punishment of life in prison without release. Sentencing is scheduled Friday.
Anderson absorbed the verdict without visible reaction. His record already included six felony convictions and nearly three dozen prosecutions for a variety of lesser offenses.
His attorney, public defender Susan Gaer, declined to discuss the trial’s outcome. She had earlier waged a successful campaign to convince prosecutors against seeking the death penalty.
The decision not to seek death was reached because prosecutors doubted they could win a death sentence, or defend it on appeal, in light of Anderson’s tumultuous childhood. He was raised in state custody from age 9, including nearly two years at the OK Boys Ranch near Olympia. The state-sanctioned foster home was closed in 1995 in the midst of a scandal over rampant physical and sexual abuse of the children.
Deputy prosecutor Michael Downes thanked jurors for their verdict.
“We are happy to have the trial completed, and we are gratified the jury looked at it so seriously and returned a just result,” he said.
Jurors asked not to be bothered by reporters. They had listened to nearly three weeks of testimony and had deliberated for about six hours.
Anderson’s conviction marks the second time in as many months that a jury has found someone guilty of murder in connection with Burkheimer’s death. The trial of another suspect in the case is set to begin late this month.
As they had done when the verdict was announced in the last trial, members of Burkheimer’s family carried red roses. They planned to place the flowers on the woman’s memorial stone.
Burkheimer’s mother, Denise Webber, struggled through tears as she asked that her daughter be remembered.
“She was a beautiful, funny, loving, giving, spiritual young woman who faced her death with grace, dignity and courage,” Webber said. “Her love keeps us strong.”
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@ heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
