Second person sentenced for role in 2024 Bellingham homeless encampment murder
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- Gale Jefferson sentenced to 17 months for role in 2024 Bellingham encampment death
- Zachariah Janusiewicz's family expressed outrage over plea deal and court outcome
- Prosecutors cited lack of strong evidence as reason for avoiding full murder trial
A Bellingham man was sentenced Wednesday to 17 months in prison on charges related to his role in the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Zachariah Janusiewicz last year.
Gale Raynard Jefferson, 34, was arrested May 7, 2024 along with 37-year-old Coleen Clark — two and a half weeks after Clark killed Janusiewicz at a homeless encampment in north Bellingham.
Jefferson was charged with six felonies and a misdemeanor, including premeditated first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to amended charges of rendering criminal assistance and unlawful imprisonment on July 17.
Clark, who pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, unlawful imprisonment and second-degree assault, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on June 11.
Janusiewicz’s family was present at Jefferson’s sentencing Wednesday. They set up pictures of him around the courtroom, as they did at Clark’s sentencing. Their statements to the judge during the proceedings and to reporters afterward made one thing clear: they did not believe justice was served.
“We didn’t get the justice we deserved,” said Alisha Ruiz, Janusiewicz’s fiancee.
Ruiz, her father and Janusiewicz’s mother all spoke before the judge imposed Jefferson’s sentence. Ruiz shared the pain that she and her now 8-year-old son, “Little Zach,” experience every day.
“He was my entire eternity,” Ruiz said. “That was taken from me.”
What happened to Janusiewicz?
On the morning of the shooting, Jefferson and Clark were going from tent to tent at the encampment accusing people of stealing their money, according to court records. Janusiewicz, who was in possession of fentanyl and money at the time, was one of the people they accused.
Janusiewicz’s family previously told The Herald that he had purchased the drugs in Seattle for friends who were going through withdrawal. Some of the fentanyl was sold to Jefferson before the shooting, according to court documents.
Janusiewicz tried to run from the encampment, and Clark chased after him with a gun. Clark tripped at one point and fired one round, hitting Janusiewicz in the torso. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
While Jefferson did not shoot Janusiewicz, he admitted that he tried to delay officials from finding Clark while knowing she was being sought on murder allegations. He also pleaded guilty to intentionally abducting another person at the encampment and attempting to “inflict extreme mental distress on him.”
Court records allege that before encountering Janusiewicz, Jefferson and Clark tied a man up with a zip tie and used the opioid overdose-reversing drug Narcan on him, in an attempt to force him to go through withdrawal.
Who was the defendant?
Jefferson apologized for the harm he caused at his sentencing, offering his “sincere prayers” for the family.
His defense attorney, Megan Yeates, said he asked how Janusiewicz’s family was doing every time they met. She also pointed out that Jefferson was not involved in the actual shooting, and the initial arrest documents mistakenly said he kicked Janusiewicz after he was shot.
Jefferson was experiencing addiction at the time of the crimes, Yeates said, and his time in jail has allowed him a “second chance at life” and sobriety.
Jefferson’s struggles with addiction began in 2017 after he suffered severe injuries, according to court records. He began taking prescription medication for pain management, which over time led to him developing an addiction to drugs.
The disclosure of his substance use led to him losing his job in 2021, and by 2023, he was unhoused. He lived at the encampment behind Walmart with his brother and, later, Clark from September 2023 until his arrest.
The defense’s sentencing memorandum also noted that Jefferson had a higher likelihood of experiencing addiction due to the disproportionate impact of the fentanyl crisis on tribal communities.
“Gale Jefferson’s trajectory — from a promising student-athlete to a person struggling with addiction and homelessness — mirrors the devastating impact of the fentanyl crisis on Native communities,” wrote Jefferson’s attorney, David Nelson, in a sentencing memorandum.
Not going to trial
Much of Janusiewicz’s family’s outrage came from the case not going to trial.
“No one ever gets to know the story” because of the plea deal, Janusiewicz’s mother, Kathleen Kloep, told the courtroom.
Kloep said she had a bad feeling the last time she saw her son. They were at the airport, and she hugged and said goodbye to him five times before letting him go.
“I don’t know if I will ever get to the end stage of the grief process,” Kloep said.
Ruiz said that Wednesday’s hearing felt like being spat on in the face.
“Today we leave and we get nothing,” she said.
Prosecutor Caleb Nagel said the state agreed to a plea deal because of concerns about the potential outcome of the trial. He said the state has an “ethical obligation” to only try what it thinks it can prove, and he did not believe there was sufficient evidence to convince the jury to convict Jefferson of charges like murder.
This was the same reasoning provided for not taking Clark’s case to trial.
Judge Robert Olson said in imposing the sentence that the decision had already been made for him when a different judge accepted Jefferson’s plea. He said he was moved by the amount of grief that Janusiewicz’s family was experiencing.
“I really feel your anguish,” he said. “I truly do.”
Olson sentenced Jefferson to 17 months in prison — the high end of the standard range for his crime — followed by 18 months in community custody. Jefferson will be required to complete a substance use disorder evaluation and follow any recommended treatment.
Ruiz and Kloep said they are discussing taking legal action regarding Janusiewicz’s death but did not provide any specific details.