‘Same stone-cold killer eyes I saw in Ridgway and Bundy’: Reichert celebrates decision to reverse murderer Timothy Pauley’s parole
Mar 26, 2025, 8:20 AM | Updated: 11:03 am
Left: A photo of Timothy Pauley in jail. Right: Law enforcement investigates the triple-murder outside the Barn Door Tavern in 1980. (Photos courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photos courtesy of KIRO 7)
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson canceled the parole granted by former Governor Jay Inslee to Timothy Pauley, who is serving consecutive life sentences for killing three employees at Barn Door Tavern in SeaTac during an armed robbery in 1980. He was due to be released Thursday.
“I am unconvinced that Mr. Pauley is truly rehabilitated and fit for release at this time,” Ferguson said in his order obtained by KIRO Newsradio.
After a careful, thorough review of the record, I am issuing an order canceling parole for Timothy Pauley, who is serving a maximum term of life in prison for a triple murder he committed nearly 45 years ago. Read the full order here: https://t.co/CvgJddkDGC
— Governor Bob Ferguson (@GovBobFerguson) March 25, 2025
Background on the triple murder at Barn Door Tavern
RELATED STORIES
Pauley was 21 years old when he robbed the Barn Door Tavern with an accomplice.
The two robbers used extension cords to tie up three women and two men who were cleaning up, according to The Daily Chronicle. The women were forced to undress in front of them while two men—night manager Loran Dowell and bartender Robert Pierre—were put in a walk-in cooler, where Pauley executed them, shooting them both in the head. Linda Burford, Pierre’s girlfriend and former waitress at the bar, was strangled by an extension cord that was used to tie her up.
Pauley was denied parole multiple times until 2022, when the Washington Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board approved his release. But Inslee blocked Pauley’s release, citing that Pauley still had not shown remorse and failed to take responsibility for the crime.
Pauley took multiple counseling sessions, read books on the topic of accountability, and apologized for his involvement in the crime in 2022 after his parole was denied by Inslee.
“I want to apologize and express my remorse for the horrible crime I committed on June 12, 1980,” Pauley told the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board, according to KING 5. “I have never been more sorry about anything in my life.”
During Inslee’s final days in office, he rescinded and revoked his order that would have blocked the release of Pauley from prison.
Outrage over parole of triple murderer
Inslee’s parole decision drew backlash from the victims’ families.
“(Pauley) chose to open up the cooler and, point blank, executed our father and Robert, who posed him no harm,” Kelly Dowell-Tarp, daughter of victim Loran Dowell, told KOMO TV. “They were tied up in a cooler when he left, there were five people dead in his mind, and there were no witnesses that should be life in prison without any question.”
Inslee accepted the recommendation to release Pauley by the state Indeterminate Sentence Review Board (ISRB). He made the decision on his last day in office.
“I respectfully disagree with the ISRB and former Governor Inslee and do not find that Mr. Pauley’s rehabilitation is complete under RCW 9.95.100,” Ferguson wrote.
Dave Reichert, a former Washington representative and King County sheriff, agreed with Ferguson’s decision to keep Pauley behind bars.
“When you hear the pain in the (victims’) voices, how can you not help but show some mercy, some passion, some compassion?” Reichert asked on “The John Curley Show.” “I didn’t see any of that from the board, but I also didn’t see any of that from Tim Pauley.”
Reichert, who ran for governor against Ferguson this past election cycle, was one of the original investigators of the murder case, meeting and interviewing Angie and Kelly when they were 9 and 13 years old and even helping physically carry the bodies out of the tavern to help process the scene.
“I happen to be one of the few people in the world that have interviewed two psychopaths, and that’s Ridgway and Bundy,” Reichert said. “And, in my opinion, Pauley had the same still, stone-cold killer eyes, the death of evil in his eyes, that I saw in Ridgway and Bundy.”
Listen to the full interview between Reichert and John Curley here:
GOP response
The decision to reverse the parole earned praise across the aisle. House Minority Leader Rep. Drew Stokesbary asked Ferguson to reconsider prior to Tuesday’s news. He also praised the victims’ families for speaking out to ensure this story didn’t go unnoticed.
“This outcome would not have been possible without the incredible courage of the victims’ families, who refused to let their loved ones be forgotten. We commend the governor for his willingness to meet with them this week and carefully review the extensive record before reaching this conclusion. Today, their voices mattered, and justice prevailed,” Stokesbary said in a statement.
Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest
-
Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 3pm for The John Curley Show.
