PULLMAN — A former Pullman man who was convicted of killing three Washington State University students and injuring four others in an automobile crash was released from prison Tuesday.
Frederick Russell, 36, was released from Larch Corrections Center in Yacolt and will spend the next 18 months under the supervision of the California Department of Corrections.
Russell was speeding along Highway 270 between Moscow, Idaho, and Pullman on June 4, 2001, when he attempted to pass another vehicle in a no-pass zone, the Lewiston Tribune newspaper reported. His vehicle collided with a car, lost control and collided with a second car carrying seven WSU students returning from a movie.
Killed in the accident were WSU students Stacy Morrow, Ryan Sorensen and Brandon Clements.
Russell, then 22, was convicted in 2007 of three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of vehicular assault. His conviction came six years after the collision — a result of his fleeing to Ireland just before his trial.
Russell was found four years later, and he fought extradition to the United States for a year.
Russell is prohibited from possessing or consuming alcohol and controlled substances and will be required to check in with his community supervision officer, said Norah West of the Washington state Department of Corrections.
Clements, 22, of Wapato, Washington; Sorensen, 21, of Westport, Washington; and Morrow, 21, of Milton, Washington, were pronounced dead at the scene. Sameer Ranade, then 20; Kara M. Eichelsdoerfer, then 21; and John M. Wagner, then 21, sustained critical injuries. A fourth student, Eric A. Haynes, 24, was also injured.
Blood samples taken from Russell showed his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.12, well above the legal limit of 0.08. He posted $5,000 bail and fled to Canada just days before his trial.
Russell spent four years in Dublin, Ireland, where he assumed an alias and false accent, worked two jobs and met a woman who became his fiance. He was apprehended in 2005 after being placed on the U.S. Marshal’s most-wanted list.
His trial was ultimately moved to Cowlitz County in southwestern Washington.
Russell was sentenced to the maximum time in prison, 14 years for each count of vehicular homicide and seven years for each count of vehicular assault, to be served concurrently.
He also owes $94,000 in restitution to the victims, according to Whitman County Superior Court.
As a result of the accident, the state made extensive improvements to the road between the two college towns.
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