Murder victim’s daughter ‘sickened’ at thought of killer walking free

It’s been 35 years since a man helped tie up and murder three people in a SeaTac-area tavern, but only three years since he attempted to send a questionable letter to his brother.

The letter, intercepted by the Department of Corrections, proves that Timothy Pauley, 56, is just as dangerous as he was when he murdered Angie Dowell’s father, she tells KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

A portion of the letter regarding a woman working in the Monroe prison says, in part: “So this is the Monroe experience, she is notable in her hostility but not unique at all. There are many who work that treat us exactly the same way. When the young guys walk around ranting about how they all need to be killed, I can’t really argue with them,” Dori read on air. “It definitely won’t be me performing that particular task, but I can’t say I would shed a tear for most of them if it ever went that way.”

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Dowell told Dori that Pauley’s attorney has convinced the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board, which she has gone before three times, that the letter was a “one-time incident and should not be considered against him.”

Pauley, who pleaded guilty to murdering three people in 1980 and is serving three-life sentences, is being considered for transfer from Monroe Correctional Complex to a minimum-security facility, which usually precedes parole. A hearing that was originally scheduled with the Review Board on Sept. 15 has been delayed to December.

Dori, who is almost the same age as Pauley, told Dowell that he can’t imagine a killer with so much life in him walking free. The move to delay the hearing seems like a tactic to let people forget, he added.

“It’s sickening,” Dowell agreed. It’s like the Review Board is ignoring Pauley’s past heinous acts and just focusing on his behavior in prison.

Pauley could be free in about a year and a half because of the remorse he’s shown for the murders and good behavior. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg told Dori that Pauley has been described as a “model inmate” who has become a mentor, among other things.

“We’ve felt so insignificant,” Dowell told Dori of the attempts to make the board understand how Pauley’s actions have impacted her family member’s lives. Dowell’s father left behind his children and a wife &#8212 a wife who found her husband dead in a cooler.

“Everything we try to explain [to the board] is ignored,” she said. The board doesn’t seem to want to consider the actual crime, or the letter that shows a “true depiction of how he thinks.”

Dori tells Dowell that he won’t let this slip through the cracks and will keep fighting to keep Pauley in prison. He’s encouraging his listeners to reach out to the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board and voice their concerns.