Life in prison for Spanaway man who killed wife, daughter

A Spanaway man who murdered his wife and daughter because he was having financial difficulties will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

A Pierce County Superior Court judge sentenced Dean Holmes, 40, to two life sentences without parole for aggravated first-degree murder.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist did not seek the death penalty against Holmes, who has no criminal history and turned himself in following the murder of his wife, Kristi, and their 11-year-old daughter, Violet.

“We took into account the severity of his crimes, his remorse as demonstrated by his surrender to law enforcement and expeditious plea of guilty, his lack of felony criminal history, the likelihood of the death penalty being upheld, and other factors,” Lindquist said. “We also talked with the family and they are supportive of this decision.”

Holmes’ surviving daughter, who was away at college at the time of the murders, appeared at sentencing Friday afternoon, but did not speak.

The mother and father of Kristi Holmes did address the court, however.

“All the family members who spoke displayed shock and anger, as you would expect, but also some forgiveness,” Lindquist said. “I recall the mother saying, ‘We can’t hate him because Jesus doesn’t want us to have hate in our hearts.'”

Holmes also spoke on his own behalf Friday. In tears, he said he would have to live with his actions every day for the rest of his life.

Holmes killed his family because he was in dire financial straits and feared his wife would leave him is she found out about his debt.

“Before it all collapsed, he killed her,” Lindquist said.

Early in the morning on Aug. 28, Kristi Holmes was shot to death with a .38 caliber revolver as she slept in her bed. Holmes then awoke his daughter and her friend, who had spent the night. After dropping the friend off at her home in Auburn, Holmes shot Violet as she slept in the back seat.

He turned himself in at the Pierce County Jail the morning of Aug. 29.