No death penalty for spree killer in Everett murders

Prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty against David Pedersen in the murder of his father and stepmother in Everett, Snohomish County Prosecutor Mark Roe announced Monday.

Pedersen will instead plead guilty to two counts of aggravated murder, and be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He will then be sent to face additional murder charges in Oregon and California.

“Though in my opinion the acts of this defendant make the death penalty an appropriate punishment, after full and fair consideration of the materials provided to me by the police investigation, I have decided not to seek to have him executed,” Roe said in a statement.

Roe said that his office received “significant, credible evidence” that Pedersen’s father had sexually abused him as a child, and may have abused other children as well.

“The defendant has repeatedly confessed to killing his father, and cited some of that abuse as a reason why,” Roe said, adding that it is unlikely a jury would unanimously agree to put Pedersen to death in light of the information.

Pedersen and his girlfriend, Holly Ann Grigsby, are suspected of killing David “Red” Pedersen, 56, and his wife Leslie, 69, around Sept. 26 in Everett. Police believe Pedersen and Grigsby then went on to kill a 19-year-old man in Oregon and an African American man in California. The couple has expressed a belief in white supremacy and said at one point they killed the Oregon teen because his last name sounded Jewish.

Prosecutors in Snohomish County have not decided whether to seek the death penalty against Grigsby, which will be decided in a separate review process.

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