Former Bellingham police officer found guilty of domestic violence abuse

A former Bellingham Police officer was found guilty Tuesday of physically abusing a woman from September 2016 until his arrest last spring.

After a day of deliberation, a jury found former Cpl. Brooks Owen Laughlin, 33, guilty of three counts of second-degree assault, two counts of felony harassment, two counts of violating a no-contact order, one count of felony stalking and one count of fourth-degree assault.

The jury also determined Laughlin’s conduct was part of an ongoing pattern of abuse manifested by physical incidents over a prolonged period of time, that some of the abuse took place in front of his minor children from a previous marriage, and that he acted with deliberate cruelty toward the victim.

They found him not guilty of three other counts of felony harassment and one count of first-degree criminal trespassing.

“I am extremely pleased with the verdicts that the jury returned. They listened extremely well through all of these facts and I think they came up with a just result,” Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney Dave McEachran said. “It’s one of the most serious domestic violence cases I’ve ever handled.”

McEachran said he likely will seek an exceptional sentence above the standard range for these types of crimes. McEachran said he expects a sentencing hearing to be set within the next few weeks.

During opening statements on Oct. 31, Laughlin’s defense attorney, Doug Hyldahl, said the case was not about the nature of the relationship between Laughlin and the woman, but was instead about the woman’s conflicting loyalties to her family, Laughlin and herself.

Hyldahl said the woman also used physical force and threats of suicide during the time the pair knew each other and that many of the violations of a no-contact order were mutual. Hyldahl said the evidence would show the woman failed to tell the whole truth to anyone, and said that the case would ultimately be determined by her credibility.

He declined to comment on the verdicts Tuesday.

Laughlin resigned from duty effective 5 p.m. April 20, according to Bellingham Police Chief David Doll. Laughlin was previously put on paid administrative leave on Feb. 14, four days after his first arrest on Feb. 10. Laughlin was arrested again a month later on March 27, after the woman disclosed violations of a no-contact order and the abuse to police.

The Bellingham Herald does not typically identify victims of domestic violence or sexual assault.

Laughlin had been with the Bellingham Police Department for 13 years and was promoted to corporal Jan. 9.

The Bellingham Police Department had known about Laughlin’s history of domestic violence since at least January 2017, but some sheriff’s deputies and the woman’s family have had concerns about Laughlin’s conduct since 2015, according to records obtained by The Bellingham Herald.

A pattern emerges

During her testimony, the 25-year-old woman said she met Laughlin in the spring of 2015. She said in the months that followed, a pattern started to emerge. She said they would often get in verbal arguments, with Laughlin claiming that she needed to “heal him,” and then once she upset him further, the situation would turn violent.

“It was constant, almost daily that he brought up me needing to heal him and make things better, make things right, take away the pain that I had caused him,” the woman said during the trial in Whatcom County Superior Court.

“There was a pattern. It would start with something of my past triggering his anger toward me and causing a verbal argument about how I had been horrible before I met him, and how I’d hurt him and it didn’t stop until it got violent.”

The woman said sometimes she would accelerate the process because she knew the situation would get better after it turned violent. In addition to the physical abuse, Laughlin installed cameras, used a GPS monitoring app and checked phone records to track the woman’s whereabouts and to know who she had contact with at all times.

If she tried to hide a conversation with someone or failed to mention that it happened, such as one time when her father called, it would cause an argument that later turned violent, she said.

The woman said Laughlin used threats of suicide as a form of manipulation.

Once, when the pair were driving back from a trip to Skagit County, they got into a verbal argument and at one point, Laughlin pulled an off-duty gun out of his waistband and held it to his head, threatening to shoot himself, the woman said. The woman, who was driving, said she told him not to do it, but was worried that if he pulled the trigger it would hit and kill her as well, because he was right-handed. She also said she was afraid the car would crash and hurt other people.

Other times, when the woman would miss Laughlin’s phone calls, he would call her and say “Bye, you killed me” and hang up, according to court records.

The woman also said Laughlin began isolating her from her family, who were very close to her. On several occasions, various family members noticed the woman had bruises on her face or body, but when asked about how she got them, she would lie or Laughlin would give an answer for her.

Communication between her and her family eventually became non-existent, she said.

The arrests

On Feb 9, the woman’s mother called her with a blocked number and left her a voicemail saying that she wanted to see her for the first time in six months. The woman decided to attend dinner that night at the family home in the 3700 block of Clearbrook Road.

While she was there, she received repeated text messages from Laughlin until they eventually spoke on the phone. Laughlin called a second time and the woman’s father answered, but Laughlin “sounded out of control,” according to court records.

“He was very upset, his voice was very raised,” the woman’s mother testified during the trial. ‘I’ve never heard somebody be so upset on the phone. He sounded like he was an animal in a trap, crying, screaming, yelling, cussing. It was incredible.

“I said, ‘Honey you can’t go, he’s going to hurt you.’ I just couldn’t imagine someone that mad at someone and that she wouldn’t get hurt, so I asked her to stay. We had a hard time letting her go. As she left, she promised and said ‘I won’t let him hurt me, mom,’ and she said she’d be back if he did.”

The woman left to meet Laughlin, but later called her mother and brother, crying hysterically and saying Laughlin had threatened to shoot her in the face. Her brother asked police to conduct a welfare check on her and Laughlin showed up while on duty as a Bellingham Police officer, according to court records.

Laughlin was arrested the next day for trespassing after he showed up at the woman’s family’s home looking for her and refused to leave, records state.

On March 26, the woman went to the Everson Police Department to report numerous violations of the no-contact order that had been put in place after Laughlin’s February arrest, and to detail the allegations of abuse she had suffered over the past several years.

He was arrested the following day and has been in the Whatcom County Jail since.

Other officers

Laughlin was the third Bellingham Police officer in as many years to be arrested for assaultive behavior. Another former officer, Sukhdev Singh Dhaliwal, was found guilty Sept. 25 for his respective role in a fight that occurred with his brother outside a Blaine business in mid-October 2017. Dhaliwal was fired May 7, after he had been with the department since Oct. 1, 2015. A date for Dhaliwal’s sentencing has not been set yet.

In fall 2016, officer Jacob Esparza was fired after he was arrested on domestic violence charges. He was already on the brink of losing his job before that, records show. Esparza, of Lynden, pleaded guilty in June 2017 to one count of harassment (domestic violence) and was sentenced to serve 364 days in jail, with 362 suspended.

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the internal investigation into the incidents involving Laughlin, and an outside independent person identified by the city’s legal office also will also conduct an assessment of the department’s specific policies that would deal with the arrests of Laughlin and Dhaliwal, and the firing of Esparza.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County resources:

▪ 24 Hour Helpline - 360-715-1563

▪ Administrative Line - 360-671-5714

▪ Email: info@dvsas.org

This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 5:00 AM.