POSTED: Thursday, Jan. 07, 2010

Police: Man kills teen girl, then himself in Peaceful Valley shooting

A Whatcom County man shot his girlfriend and killed her 14-year-old daughter at his Peaceful Valley home early Thursday, Jan. 7, before turning the gun on himself, Sheriff Bill Elfo said.

The girl, Felicity Boonstra, was a student at Mount Baker Junior High. After being shot, her mother, Rebecca Boonstra, ran to a neighbor's house for help. She was taken to St. Joseph Hospital with at least one gunshot wound and is expected to survive, Elfo said.

Elfo did not release the man's name, but others identified him as the homeowner, Sean D. Wilson. Wilson, 41, was a Whatcom County planning commissioner.

Authorities responded to a 911 call at 3:19 a.m. that a woman had come to a neighbor's home in the 600 block of Sprague Valley Drive saying she had been shot.

When deputies arrived, they found Wilson and Felicity Boonstra already dead. Rebecca was injured but conscious. She was too traumatized to give many details about what happened, Elfo said.

Elfo said deputies had been to the house at least once before, in March 2008, for a domestic violence report. During that incident, which occurred March 16, Rebecca Boonstra was arrested on suspicion of fourth-degree assault and brandishing a weapon, according to Whatcom County District Court records.

The circumstances of that arrest were not immediately available Thursday, although the charges were dismissed in January 2009 after Boonstra completed a domestic-violence evaluation and other conditions, according to records filed in District Court.

Only a few minutes before Thursday's shooting was reported, Felicity posted on her Facebook page that this was the third night in a row that Boonstra and Wilson were yelling and fighting. She wrote that Wilson had broken the phone.

"I just want to leave this house and be with my dad," she wrote.

Rebecca Boonstra and Wilson had been together about eight years. She had originally moved in with him to be a live-in nanny to his son and daughter, according to a 2006 article in The Bellingham Herald. Authorities did not say if those children, who are still school age, were in the home or if they also lived with another parent.

They also did not say whether Felicity's younger brother, Cooper, was in the home at the time.

At a press conference about the shootings, Elfo said, "We're seeing a dramatic escalation in violence in Whatcom County and across Western Washington for that matter. This is not a good way to start the year."

Karen Burke, executive director of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services, wouldn't comment on whether her agency had worked with Rebecca Boonstra due to confidentiality. But she said domestic abuse seems to be on the rise locally.

"This violence doesn't take place in isolation," she said. "This is a tragedy that likely escalated over time."

At the junior high school where Felicity Boonstra was an eighth-grader, students were informed of her death in first period, said Geoffrey Pitner, 17, a senior at Mount Baker High School and a friend of Felicity.

The junior high school and high school share the same campus. Pitner said many of her friends and other grieving students gathered in the library to cope.

"The library was filled with a lot of sad kids," Pitner said. "I was shocked when I heard a teacher tell me it was Felicity. Felicity was one of my best friends. Felicity is in a better place now."

Mount Baker School District Superintendent Richard Gantman said he and other staff members gathered before school started to discuss how to break the news to students and how to offer them counseling. After the news broke, Gantman said he wanted to ensure grieving students had access to counselors alone or in groups.

The high school and junior high school have four full- and part-time counselors available and other counselors at elementary schools available on an as-needed basis, Gantman said. Students who felt they needed to go home were allowed to do so.

"This situation is so tragic it's unimaginable," Gantman said. "One of the wonderful things about our junior high is that it is small. That's a wonderful characteristic on good days, but on bad days it means everyone's affected."

Pitner, who lived in the same block as Felicity, said she was always available to help him work through a problem he was facing and always willing to talk. He said they discussed her aspirations of becoming a model in their last meeting before she died.

"I could not focus (at school Thursday)," Pitner said. "I was trying not to cry. She was an amazing member of the society here. She took time out of the day to help everyone. She's just always been here for me."

Anne Hulse, 65, has lived two blocks from Wilson's house for almost 10 years and said the violence was extremely unusual for the community.

"It's peaceful and quiet and very little going on," Hulse said. "I just think that domestic violence is something we want to sweep under the carpet and not address."

But friends of the family said Wilson and Rebecca Boonstra had troubles. They also said Wilson had a drinking problem and that Rebecca urged him to attend Alcoholics Anonymous.

"That poor woman has had enough problems with that guy," said Geoffrey Pitner's father, Richard Pitner.

Rebecca is the Visitor's Center coordinator for the Mt. Baker Foothills Chamber of Commerce and previously served as PTA president at Kendall Elementary School. Kathy Goldsmith, an information specialist for the chamber, said she has worked with Rebecca for nearly two years.

"She is an outgoing, energetic, very friendly woman who's willing to help anybody," Goldsmith said.

Goldsmith said she last saw Rebecca and Wilson on Tuesday, Jan. 5. "They seemed to be in great spirits."

Others also described Rebecca as someone with a big heart.

"She doesn't look conventional and she doesn't want to seem conventional. But her heart is so warm and she is so engaging that that has never made a difference," said Linda Dorsett, who has known Rebecca for about four years and who hired her for the Visitor's Center position.

"People love her. She's been generous with her time, donating lots of energy to making this community a better place," she added.

Dorsett said she last saw Rebecca, Felicity and Wilson at a wedding celebration Saturday, Jan. 2.

"Felicity was charming and poised," Dorsett said. "They looked normal."

She said the couple was among a group of area residents that strived to make their community a better place. That included efforts to bring the much-delayed East Whatcom Regional Resource Center to the Peaceful Valley area. As originally envisioned, the center would provide health, educational and other social services.

John Lesow, a member of the Whatcom County Planning Commission, said fellow commission member Wilson and Rebecca would smoke cigarettes and talk with him during breaks in Planning Commission meetings. Wilson was first appointed to the commission about a year ago, and he and Rebecca a started coming to commission meetings together after he got appointed, Lesow said.

"This is a real tragedy," Lesow said. "I'm so sorry."

In November 2007, Wilson unsuccessfully ran for a spot on the Whatcom County Water District No. 13 board. He garnered 29.83 percent of the vote, losing to Richard Whitson.

Wilson also was a 2008 graduate of Leadership Whatcom, according to its Web site. He was on multiple committees and involved in several groups working to improve the foothills area.

Dorsett described Wilson as a "major contributor to our community and very bright."

"This is all so sad," she said. "In tragedies like this, it's so easy to discount the value of the person who was essentially a murderer in this instance. He had real value in this community."

CANDELIGHT VIGIL PLANNED

A discussion on domestic violence and a candlelight vigil are planned for Wednesday, Jan. 13, at Kendall Elementary School, 7547 Kendall Road, in Maple Falls.

The event begins at 7 p.m. with a presentation by Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services about domestic violence, why it happens and how to avoid it. Advocates also will be there for anyone who wants to meet privately with them.

The candlelight vigil will follow outside, weather permitting.