For more than seven months, Bridgette Kirk and her six children have been reliving a nightmare spawned in the early morning hours of July 8.
She was abducted from her home, sexually assaulted, beaten severely and left to flee naked to a home in the Flowing Lake area near her home in Snohomish.
Her hysterical daughter called 911 for help, describing how her mother had been forced into the family van and was pounding on the windows to get out as the vehicle pulled away.
With a judge’s order on Tuesday, the Snohomish woman and her family may be able to start anew, or at least feel safe for several decades.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry sentenced her former husband, Richard Allen Kirk, 36, to the maximum penalty allowed by law – 30 years and three months in prison.
“This was a life-altering, brutal attack,” Castleberry said. “His wife was beaten so badly she couldn’t be recognized.”
Richard Kirk pleaded guilty in November to first-degree rape and first-degree attempted murder. Under the plea agreement, deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson recommended a 25-year term, about the middle of the sentencing range.
Everett defense attorney Mark Stephens said Richard Kirk’s agreement with the charges was no plea bargain, or at least no bargain for him. He noted that the 25 years is about a third of the average life span of a typical American man.
He told the judge that his client wanted to take responsibility for his actions from the outset, so he asked for a term of about 23 years. The shorter sentence might someday allow Richard Kirk to become reacquainted with his children, Stephens said.
Richard Kirk is genuinely remorseful, Stephens added.
A former Bothell firefighter and emergency medical technician, Richard Kirk apologized to his family, the fire department and community.
“I earned my prison sentence,” he told Castleberry.
The couple were married at the time of the attack but are now divorced.
Bridgette Kirk told the judge that her ex-husband was “extremely disturbed” and it was hard for him to control his rage.
“It breaks my heart to see Richard this way,” she said. “I forgave him unforgivable things” during the time they were married.
She told the judge her life and those of her children are forever changed, and she wonders how she will support herself and the children.
“I still feel like I’m living a nightmare,” she told the judge.
Castleberry said he received letters about the good things Richard Kirk has done, but “that one night was so horrific it has to be the focus” of the hearing. He said Bridgett Kirk and the children will only feel safe as long as her ex-husband is in prison.
“She and the children deserve to feel as safe as they can for as long as they can,” the judge said in pronouncing his sentence.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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