Michael Boysen Update: Wash. man gets life for killing grandparents, goes on profanity-laced tirade
(CBS/AP) SEATTLE - Michael Boysen, a 27-year-old Washington man who strangled and robbed his grandparents after they celebrated his release from prison, was sentenced Friday to life behind bars at a court hearing punctuated by his profanity-riddled outburst.
That was the only possible sentence for Boysen afterhe entered a guilty plea to aggravated murder charges Oct. 4 for the killings last March of Robert Taylor, 82, and Norma Taylor, 80, at the Renton, Wash., home where they had thrown him a party.
King County prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Defense lawyers had asked for a 40-year sentence because of Boysen's history of mental illness and suicide attempts.
Boysen was found with self-inflicted cuts when he was arrested after a standoff at a Lincoln City, Ore., motel three days after the killings.
King County Superior Court Judge Douglas North said he saw no basis to deviate from the law, even if that were possible.
Boysen became angry and screamed profanity when family members spoke at Friday's sentencing, CBS affiliate KIRO reported.
Boysen then read a statement in which he complained about police, prosecutors and jail guards.
He admitted he was a difficult prisoner, with 14 instances of self-harm and suicide attempts over seven months in jail.
He had an urge to die and compulsion to harm himself "that I can get out of my head," but it wasn't helpful to keep him strapped to a board, Boysen said in his statement carried on KIRO.
Boysen said he loved his grandparents who were like second parents after his parents divorced when he was a teen.
"I have remorse. I am sorry whether my family chooses to believe it or not," he said. But at another point he said, "An 'I'm sorry' at this point doesn't really seem to cut it."
Boysen had completed a burglary sentence when the Taylors picked him up at the Monroe Correctional Complex and held a welcome home party for him that Friday night in March.
The couple's bodies were found that same weekend by their daughter - Boysen's mother.
They were in the closet of their guest bedroom partially dressed in their pajamas. Both had "severely dark-bruised ligature marks around their necks," charging papers said.
A bloody shoelace remained partially wrapped around Norma Taylor's neck.
Detectives found emptied envelopes that held $5,200. Credit cards belonging to the couple, her cellphone and their car were also gone.
Boysen went on a shopping spree, spending around $1,400 at Fred Meyer and Walmart to buy an iPad, a laptop, CDs, and a pre-paid cellphone, detectives said.
He was caught after the motel manager recognized him from television news reports. He had signed in using his real name.
Boysen was previously in prison from 2006 to 2011 for four robbery convictions, related to an addiction to narcotic painkillers, the state Department of Corrections said.
Boysen's mother, Melanie Taylor, said her parents always saw the good in Boysen and never felt threatened.