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Everett cold case killer sentenced to life
A 74-year-old man was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after DNA evidence linked him to the cold case murders of two Everett women in the 1980s.
EVERETT, Wash. - More than four decades after two women were killed in Everett, the man who admitted to murdering them has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.
Mitchell Gaff, 74, was sentenced Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Judith "Judy" Weaver and Susan Vesey.
The hearing lasted several hours as family members, friends and survivors spoke about the lasting impact of the killings and the decades they spent waiting for answers.
Two cold cases solved through DNA evidence
Investigators linked Gaff to both murders through DNA evidence decades after the crimes occurred.
The backstory:
Susan Vesey was 21 years old when she was found murdered inside her Everett apartment on July 12, 1980, the day after her birthday. Her infant son and toddler daughter were inside the apartment unharmed.
Judith Weaver, 42, was found murdered inside her home on Rucker Avenue in Everett in June 1984 after walking home from work.
Gaff pleaded guilty last month and admitted to both killings in open court.
Families describe decades of grief
During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, family members described how the killings affected generations of relatives. Leon Gregory, Weaver’s brother, told the court the loss impacted his family for more than four decades.
"Your Honor, as we all know, it’s been a long 42 years," Gregory said. "My parents, brother, two other sisters, passed on years ago, never knowing who killed Judy."
Kathy Myers, Weaver’s daughter, described losing her mother at age 20.
"My life was never the same," Myers wrote in a statement read in court by a victim advocate.
She told the judge her children never had the chance to know their grandmother.
"He robbed them of their childhood memories," the statement said.
Family members of the victims in court
Son says he was inside apartment during killing
Joshua Vesey, Susan Vesey’s son, addressed the court remotely. He told the judge he was 3 months old when his mother was killed and was inside the apartment during the attack.
"What the defendant took from me and my sister was not just a life, it was a mother’s unconditional love," Vesey said.
He described growing up without answers and said the uncertainty caused divisions within the family over the years.
"At any point he could have stopped the confusion, the suspicion and the pain that spread through my family," Vesey said.
Deborah Newton, Susan Vesey’s daughter, also submitted a statement describing the impact of growing up without her mother.
"All of these were highlights of my life that I desperately wished I could have shared with her," Newton wrote.
Survivor recounts violent 1979 attack
The court also heard from Jacqueline O’Brien, who survived a violent attack by Gaff in Everett in 1979.
O’Brien, a former law enforcement officer, described fighting for her life after Gaff attacked her inside her garage.
"I knew he was going to kill me," O’Brien said.
She eventually escaped and helped police identify Gaff shortly after the attack. O’Brien told the court the trauma has followed her for decades.
"My nightmare occurred 47 years ago, but it seems like yesterday," she said.
Mitchell Gaff
Judge cites seriousness of crimes
Before sentencing, Gaff addressed the court and said drugs and alcohol contributed to his violent behavior.
"I am without excuse or defense for my crimes," Gaff said.
Defense attorneys asked the court to impose the minimum sentence allowed under the state’s older sentencing laws because the crimes happened before Washington’s current sentencing system took effect.
Prosecutors argued for a significantly longer sentence based on Gaff’s criminal history and the severity of the crimes.
In delivering the sentence, the judge said the court considered Washington sentencing standards, the defendant’s criminal history and concerns about his repeated efforts over the years to minimize or conceal the full extent of his crimes.
"The defendant’s history consists of sexually motivated, extremely violent crimes against women," the judge said.
The judge ultimately rejected the defense request for the minimum sentence.
"The appropriate sentence has a minimum is the number of years that the families had to wait," the judge said before sentencing Gaff to 50 years to life in prison.
At 74 years old, Gaff is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.
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The Source: Information in this story came from court documents filed in Snohomish County Superior Court and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.