MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Two killers sentenced for woman found in burned-out car

Aug 25, 2014, 9:58 AM | Updated: 11:06 am

Two people are sentenced to prison for the murder of a woman whose body was found in a burned-out car near Black Diamond in 2012.

A King County Superior Court judge sentenced Kennon Fastrup of Kent to 45-1/2 years in prison for first degree murder, arson and other charges. A co-defendant, Michelle Backstrom, 37, was sentenced to 12-1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to second degree murder.

Prosecutors argued that the defendants killed Denise Grigsby, 39, in May 2012 after an argument between Fastrup and Grigsby.

In court documents, police investigators said Backstrom told them Fastrup, 32, beat Grigsby with a flashlight and then strangled her with a metal cable and then a lanyard. Fastrup claimed he didn’t know Grigsby’s body was in the trunk when he set her car on fire.

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