Seattle man who killed brother during Whatcom County pit stop sentenced in court
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- Whatcom County judge sentenced a Seattle man to 25 years for killing his brother.
- Jurors convicted John Thomson of second-degree murder, rejecting premeditation.
- Defense cited abuse history and addiction; court ordered treatment evaluation.
A Seattle man was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Friday in Whatcom County Superior Court for the killing of his half-brother during a road trip back from Republic, Washington, in 2022.
John Roper Thomson, 43, was found guilty of second-degree murder in May for fatally shooting 69-year-old Robert Thomson near the western end of Diablo Lake in the North Cascades National Park on Aug. 8, 2022. Thomson was initially charged with first-degree murder, but jurors ruled that the killing did not involve premeditation.
The court proceedings on July 25 began with a discussion of John Thomson’s motion for a new trial, which Judge Robert Olson ultimately denied. The state and John Thomson’s attorneys then put forth their sentencing recommendations.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sophia Padgett asked Olson to impose a sentence of 314 months, or just over 26 years. She said that while Robert Thomson’s mother could not be present at the sentencing, she told Padgett that she wanted the judge to know “how much Robert mattered.”
Padgett described John Thomson’s shooting of his brother as an “entirely disproportionate response to anything Robert Thomson might have done.”
During his two-week trial, defense attorneys argued that John Thomson feared for his life when he shot at his brother over 20 times with an AR-15-style rifle. There was evidence that Robert Thomson pepper-sprayed him in the car, and John Thomson testified to a history of abuse by his brother. John Thomson also said he was dealing with addiction and withdrawal at the time of the incident.
Public defender Matthew Mearns reiterated this at the sentencing hearing. Because of these “mitigating factors,” he asked Olson to impose an 11-year sentence, which is below the standard range.
Mearns said John Thomson was a good man who’d worked on himself in jail, and that he was more than just “the worst thing that he’s ever done.”
John Thomson addressed the court prior to his sentencing. He apologized for his actions, and said that “there is not one day that goes by that (he doesn’t) think about (his) brother.”
He said that he’s been able to reconnect with his faith over his roughly three years in Whatcom County Jail, and that he wants something positive to come out of what happened.
Olson called John Thomson’s speech “thoughtful, sincere and gracious.” At the same time, he said he had to consider the “violent brutality of the crime itself.”
Following ten minutes of deliberation in his chambers, he decided to impose a 25-year prison sentence with credit for time served. John Thomson will also have to undergo mental health and substance abuse evaluations and comply with any recommended treatment.
John Thomson’s attorney filed a formal notice of appeal following the sentencing.