Man suspected of murdering grandparents wants state to kill him

Attorneys for the man accused of strangling his elderly grandparents in Renton earlier this year claim the conditions in the King County Jail are so bad that their client is now volunteering for the death penalty.

Michael “Chadd” Boysen has spent most of his time in the King County Jail in diapers, strapped to a board in solitary confinement.

The jail staff said it’s for his own protection because he has attempted suicide or harmed himself at least a dozen times since his arrest in March, but the Seattle PI reports the 27-year-old’s attorneys say the treatment has broken him, and he wants the state to kill him.

His attorneys have even gone so far as to ask a judge to throw out the aggravated murder case against him because the conditions in the jail have been so severe.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg hasn’t decided whether he’ll seek the death penalty in this case, but Boysen has told his attorneys not to challenge a death sentence.

Boysen is accused of strangling his grandparents with a shoelace March 9, just hours after getting out of prison on a burglary conviction. Robert Taylor, 82, and his 80-year-old wife Norma had spent the day getting Boysen ready for life on the outside. They had even prepared a bedroom for Boysen in their Renton home and had thrown a welcome home party for him.

Boysen was eventually arrested in a motel on the Oregon coast after several days on the run. A SWAT team finally smoked him out after a long standoff. He was found unconscious with deep self-inflicted wounds on his arms and legs.

Boysen’s attorneys said he is often strapped-down without supervision for days inside the King County Jail, and when he isn’t restrained he finds ways to harm himself.

He’s even cut himself with an orange seed.

King County has not responded to the allegations.