CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #7572 Rating: 3.7 out of 5
Man, dog beaten and stabbed to death
Battle Ground, WA (US)Incident Date: Monday, Feb 28, 2005
County: Clark
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: James David Karnath
The son and daughter of murder victim James G. Karnath were emotional but composed in Feb 28 in Clark County Superior Court as they reeled off examples of the love they had for their father and their father had for his family.
They had come to see their father's killer plead guilty and be sentenced. Sometimes they spoke to Judge Barbara D. Johnson. Other times they spoke directly to Karnath's killer: their brother, James David Karnath.
Karnath, 45, pleaded guilty on Feb 28, 2006 to first-degree murder, first-degree theft and animal cruelty in the March 2005 beating, stabbing and strangling of his 69-year-old father, a Battle Ground resident, and his father's dog, Happy.
After a recommended plea agreement, Johnson sentenced Karnath to 30 years in prison, which includes 9 months for the theft conviction and one year for causing the dog's death. The term could be reduced by a maximum of 22/3 years for good behavior. Karnath received credit for the 334 days he has served in the Clark County Jail.
Karnath was arrested March 24, 2005, in California while driving the Toyota pickup he stole from his father. While in jail there, he told a cellmate he had killed his father a day or two earlier and left his body in a Yacolt-area cabin. He later told investigators he killed his father because his dad tried to quash his Internet romance with a Russian woman and threatened to call mental-health experts, according to court documents.
In Clark County, he told authorities he had planned to kill his sister and brother the same way, court documents said.
Before his sentencing, Larry Karnath and Joan Karnath read eloquently written statements. Their brother could not comprehend the grief he has caused the family, they told him.
"I could never forgive the person who killed the only person in the world who was my father but also my best friend and my hero," Larry Karnath said, describing himself as Karnath's "ex-brother." "You ripped our hearts out by killing Daddy."
Their father repeatedly bailed his troubled son out of jail, gave him shelter, money and love, and never asked for anything in return, Joan Karnath told her brother.
"He loved you unconditionally," she said, "and you took his life like an entitlement."
Their father was her confidant, her friend, her "soft place to land in this world," she said. His love gave her the courage to fight cancer. He came to his grandchildren's activities and "made them feel like something special," she said. He had a deep, genuine and joyful laugh. He was devoted to his wife and retired in 2000 to care for her until her death in late 2001.
He was "someone who made the world a better place," she said. "You are a con man."
Karnath made a brief statement before Johnson sentenced him.
"I can never make it up to you," Karnath said. "I'm sorry." References« WA State Animal Cruelty Map
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