King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said that while there is a lot of legal process ahead in determining whether his office will seek the death penalty for Christopher J. Monfort — charged today with aggravated first degree murder in the slaying of police officer Timothy Brenton — Monfort’s alleged crime makes him deserving of execution.
The death penalty “is reserved for the worst of worst offenders, the worst of worst offenses. And (Monfort) falls squarely within that definition,” Satterberg said.
In total, Monfort is being charged with one count of aggravated murder in the first degree, three counts of attempted murder in the first degree, a lesser count of first degree murder, and one count of arson in the first degree.
He is being held without bail.
According to Satterberg, one of the attempted murder charges stems from when officers contacted Monfort outside his apartment shortly before he was shot and apprehended. Monfort apparently pulled a gun and pointed it directly at the head of Seattle Police Homicide Sgt. Gary Nelson.
He “put a gun in my face and pulled the trigger,” Nelson said, according to a court report.
But he pulled the trigger and the gun “clicked” because Monfort had not racked a round into the chamber of the 16-shot Glock 9mm he was carrying. If a round had been loaded in the gun’s chamber, Seattle Police could very well have lost another officer, Satterberg said.
Charging documents state that after the gun failed to go off, Monfort took off running towards his apartment, which Satterberg said Monfort converted in to a “bunker” for a final standoff with police. As reported earlier, Monfort’s apartment was rigged with boobie-traps and explosives — what the prosecutor described as crude bombs loaded with a shrapnel of wires and nails. The apartment itself was rimmed with car tires mounted on wheels, to serve as fortification from oncoming bullets. And a bomb was rigged up to Monfort’s stove.
“He was prepared to make a final armed stand, should he be discovered,” Satterberg said.
Except Monfort didn’t make it back to his apartment. Police shot him, striking him in the face and torso. He collapsed at the foot of his doorstep. Police found a small book in his pocket containing the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United State of America.
Police were initially drawn to the apartment complex following a tip from Monfort’s apartment manager, who told deputies that a vehicle similar to the one used in the slaying of Officer Brenton was owned by Monfort and that it was “weird” that Monfort had covered it after police released a description.
A $105,000 reward was offered by CrimeStoppers for information that could lead to the conviction of the suspect in Brenton’s Murder. (We have a call in to CrimeStoppers to see if the manager has attempted to claim the award.)
Other charges of first degree attempted murder stem from Monfort’s bombing of vehicles at a Police Department maintenance yard. One bomb was planted in a large mobile precinct police unit. The initial blast was supposed to draw first responding officers to the scene before explosives attached to the gas tanks of nearby police cruisers detonated.
The final count of attempted murder stems from the night Brenton was killed by Monfort: Brenton’s partner, Officer Britt Sweeney, was also a target, though she was only grazed by a bullet
Earlier in the week, Monfort’s appointed attorney, Julie Lawry of the Associated Council for the Accused, raised concern that police were denying Monfort access to an attorney. She insinuated that police may be trying to coerce a confession out of Monfort, perhaps using intimidation to do so.
Satterberg denied that his office had any role in the allegations, noting that Monfort had been read his Miranda rights, also stating that he was not sure if Monfort — who is under sedation at Harborview Medical Center and is being guarded by sheriffs deputies — had even requested an attorney.
“We’re not making effort to talk with him,” he said. “He has made no statements.”
Satterberg said while we don’t have a clear picture of what made Christopher Monfort tick — a man who seemingly lived double life as a councilor of troubled youth and active college student — he said in the coming months hopefully many questions will be answered.
