EVERETT — An Everett man faces up to 20 years in prison for fatally stabbing his estranged wife’s boyfriend last summer.
Gary Sturdevant, 42, admitted on Friday that he was responsible for the Aug. 2 death of Mark Harris.
Harris, 46, was found nearly decapitated, hidden under some brush near Ebey Slough. Sturdevant reportedly said that he’d ambushed Harris while the man was tending a fire. After stabbing and kicking the man, he attempted to cut off his head.
The defendant’s relatives called Everett police, concerned that Sturdevant had done something terrible, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Cindy Larsen wrote in court papers filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Officers found him at his mother’s apartment. After learning that he had a court order to stay away from his wife, they asked Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies to check on the woman at her home near Ebey Slough. The victim’s body was found.
After being read his rights and confronted with suspicions that he’d killed Harris, Sturdevant told investigators that he was going to have to plead guilty, Larsen wrote.
Sturdevant was released from jail just a couple of days before Harris’ killing, and reportedly spent the time with another former inmate, drinking, smoking crack and talking about killing Harris, according to court papers.
Sturdevant was charged in September with first-degree murder. Prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge to second-degree murder in exchange for a guilty plea.
Sturdevant is scheduled to be sentenced next week. Prosecutors are expected to recommend a nearly 19-year prison sentence.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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