EVERETT — The last defendant in a 2011 home invasion robbery that ended in fatal gunfire has pleaded guilty to a slew of crimes that could send him to prison for nearly 16 years.
Clark Lynn Johnson, 49, wasn’t with a group of heavily-armed men who barged into a Marysville home, but helped plan the crime, prosecutors alleged. Johnson, a suspected gang member, admitted Wednesday that he conspired to commit robbery and burglary. He also pleaded guilty to rendering criminal assistance and intimidating a witness in connection with the Dec. 1, 2011 incident. Johnson also admitted to taking part in a separate burglary about a month after the Marysville heist.
Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Mara Rozzano plans to recommend a 15-year prison term at the sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 22. Now that Johnson isn’t going to trial, six other codefendants who already have been convicted are expected to be sentenced in the coming months.
Earlier this month Johnathan Frohs, whose nickname is “Bigfoot,” was sentenced to 21 years in prison for accidentally killing one of the men who was part of the robbery.
The crew plotted the heist to retaliate against two men who ripped off a drug dealer who had been working for one of them. The robbers held a Marysville husband and wife at gunpoint as the crew tried to track down the two men at the couple’s home.
The robbers, some with ties to an outlaw motorcycle gang and other associated with a prison gang, threatened the couple and their relatives.
Then gunfire broke out. Frohs mistook a crew member for a rival and fired a shotgun at the man. Patrick “Bucky” Buckmaster was shot in the head after walking into the Marysville house.
The crew fled and so did the Marysville couple. Later, some of the robbers returned, packed Buckmaster’s body into the trunk of a car and drove to Denny’s. He later was buried in a shallow grave in east Snohomish County. His body was discovered about a month later.
His family was told that Buckmaster, 30, was being treated to a vacation because he’d done right by an outlaw motorcycle gang during a recent job. Relatives believe that was the gang’s way of notifying them of Buckmaster’s death.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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