News - Local News

POSTED: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009

Man gets 10 years in jail for slashing woman's throat at Ferndale ATM

A man who slashed a woman's throat with a box cutter outside a Ferndale ATM was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday, Jan. 12.

Joseph Ryan Smith, 20, was sentenced after pleading guilty to first-degree assault with a deadly weapon in Whatcom County Superior Court.

Samantha Shields, 25, of Ferndale was withdrawing money at the Whatcom Educational Credit Union branch on Barrett Road the morning of July 28 when Smith came up behind her.

Smith, who lives in the county east of Blaine, slashed Shields several times with a box cutter. She suffered a 4-inch gash and several other cuts on her neck and jaw that required more than 50 stitches.

Employees inside the bank heard Shields' screams and were able to chase Smith away. Police found him about one hour later hiding in a nearby field.

During Monday's sentencing, Shields addressed her attacker's guilty plea to first-degree assault, which was used as an alternative charge to attempted murder.

"I'd like to tell Joseph that I think it's a cop-out that he pleaded guilty to assault one and not attempted murder," she said. "We both know what his intent was, and had it not been for the bank employees, he would have killed me."

Whatcom County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Chris Quinn decided to accept Smith's guilty plea for assault because proving attempted murder would have been difficult, said Senior Deputy Prosecutor Elizabeth Gallery, who will filling in for Quinn on Monday.

Smith, who had written Shields a note apologizing for the attack, also offered a verbal apology at the hearing.

"I would like to apologize, so you can hear the words from my mouth, that I am deeply sorry for the actions that occurred (the morning of the attack)," he said. "I allowed the things going on in my personal life to allow me to snap."

Although Shields believes Smith was aiming to kill her, she is trying to accept his sentence.

"I'm trying not to be judge and jury on it and just be happy with whatever he got and not be disappointed," she said.

Shields' life has retuned to normal since the attack, with a few small exceptions. Her two daughters, Nevada, 3, and Chesnee, 2, have invented a game out of their mother's attack, sometimes proclaiming "the bad man is coming," Shields said.

Shields bears two scars, one on her jaw and one on the right side of her neck.

And everyday tasks sometimes make her nervous.

"I'm definitely jumpy buckling my kids in the car and looking over my shoulder the whole time," she said, "but other than that, it's definitely turned out to be the best of the worst situation."