Killer was ready to ‘give his life’ when he set out on police hunt

The man who brutally murdered a Seattle police officer told the court that he is a strong supporter of the Constitution.

“I feel it is a fantastic document,” Christopher Monfort said Thursday during his formal sentencing. “The one thing it doesn’t do is come with a set of instructions. It doesn’t tell us how to handle police that turn on us.

“Without any instructions, we have to find out own way,” he said.

Monfort, 41, was sentenced to life in prison for killing Timothy Brenton and attempting to kill his partner, Brit Kelly, in 2009. He was convicted in June.

Though Monfort apologized to Brenton’s family, he showed absolutely no remorse for the violent act. He said what the people of the country and City of Seattle are dealing with are police that take lives on a regular basis; people hired to protect. There is a “long line” of citizens that have been murdered by the police, he explained.

“Everything I’ve seen and heard … I killed a good man,” Monfort said of Brenton. “And that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, as it should be.”

It was “purely” random that Monfort shot Brenton, Monfort explained. He was hoping that he was going to “run into an officer” that had a “long string of complaints of brutality” and “marks” on his or her record.

“That was my hope,” he added.

But the man Monfort killed was described as anything but brutal. Brenton’s mother, Penny, described Officer Brenton as “extremely intelligent.” He had a great sense of humor that took many forms, she said. And, most importantly, Officer Brenton knew that while his job was serious, he couldn’t take himself too seriously, she added.

Lisa Brenton, officer Brenton’s widow, asked to do a ride-along with her husband to see what his job was like, because at home, Brenton was always at peace.