San Juan County man who fled to Whatcom County sent to prison for murdering his wife
A San Juan County man who murdered his wife, fled to Whatcom County and ended an armed standoff by stabbing himself is headed to prison.
Eric Arthur Kulp, 45, was sentenced Sept. 17 to nearly 16 years in prison for one count of second-degree murder for the death of his wife, Abigail Finney, 38, in San Juan County Superior Court, according to a story in the Islands’ Sounder.
Kulp pleaded guilty on Aug. 3, and did not provide a confession, but said he understood there were “unanswered questions” about the case and it was “intensely painful and disturbing” for him to discuss details, according to a story in the San Juan Islander. Kulp had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and involuntarily committed several times, the Islands’ Sounder story reported.
In mid-April, several law enforcement agencies had been searching for Kulp for more than week. Finney’s body had been found concealed in a vehicle at her and Kulp’s Shaw Island home on April 5, the San Juan Islander reported. It was determined Finney died sometime around Nov. 22. An autopsy couldn’t determine the cause of death because her body was too decomposed, but concluded she was murdered, the Islands’ Sounder story reported.
Kulp was spotted in Bellingham April 7, two days after Finney’s body had been found, and later traveled to Glacier that day. A deputy with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office had stopped Kulp when he saw him walking east in the 6700 block of Mt. Baker Highway, but let him go because there was no information in the law-enforcement database that said Kulp was wanted or being sought in connection to a crime.
Kulp was again seen the next day and a large search response checked the foothills near Glacier Creek Road, but Kulp wasn’t found.
On April 13, Kulp was arrested by Skagit and Whatcom county sheriff’s deputies near Marblemount. Kulp had been involved in a standoff that ended after he stabbed himself. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.