Accused spree killer demands ‘Cocoa Puffs’

The attorney for an accused spree killer argued Monday that his client should have access to sugary treats while she awaits her aggravated murder trial inside the Snohomish County Jail.

Holly Ann Grigsby and her boyfriend, David Pedersen, are accused of murdering four people from Washington state to California. At a hearing, Grigsby’s attorney said his client’s right to commissary had been abruptly taken away last December.

“The jail decided to take that privilege away without any reasoning, without anything,” said Attorney Pete Mazzone. “We were asking for the court to allow our client to have the privileges that other inmates in the general population of the jail have, one of which is the ability to buy things from the jail store.”

According to the Everett Herald, the jail changed its commissary policies for high-risk female inmates in mid-December, cutting them off from such purchases. As a high-risk male offender, Pedersen was never given that privilege.

But Mazzone told the court Grigsby should still have access to items such as coffee, tea and the occasional candy bar. He also made a request for “Cocoa Puffs” cereal, but acknowledged that he may have gotten carried away.

“In court I said ‘Cocoa Puffs’ just as an example, I don’t even know if Cocoa Puffs are possible,” he said.

They’re not.

Jail officials told KIRO Radio that both Grigsby and Pedersen are banned from purchasing certain items because of their maximum security classification.

“Some things that may be innocuous to the general public, the inmates can use for nefarious things,” said Harry Parker, captain of jail operations. “They use some of those things to barter with other inmates. I’ve even seen them make string-like things with wrapping papers off of their candy bars. They’ll tie them together, because all they have is time.”

Mazzone doesn’t buy it.

“The jail’s concern that certain things you buy from commissary are supposed to be a security breach is ridiculous,” he said. “After all, are ‘Cocoa Puffs’ some security risk?”

Parker said inmates in maximum security rarely complain about their restricted access to commissary.

“The only people who seem to ever complain are the really high notoriety cases,” he said. “The other inmates? You never hear a peep.”

Grisby’s case would certainly classify as high notoriety. Grigsby and Pedersen, both of whom police say have ties to white supremacy groups, have pleaded not guilty to murdering Pederson’s parents in Everett last September. From there, police say they killed an Oregon teen whose last name “sounded Jewish,” and a black man near Eureka, Calif.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.