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Charges Filed in 4th of July Murder – Updated

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Today the PI reports that 2nd degree murder charges have been filed against Richard Judlin in the Inependence Day stabbing of his wife in their Central District apartment.

He’s blaming crack:

Judlin told police he’d been smoking crack cocaine earlier in the evening, according to court documents. He told officers he stabbed his wife several times on their bed, then lay on top of her face to stifle her screams.

Prosecutors say Judlin “told officers that he regularly smokes cocaine … and just ‘clicked’ and stabbed Earlycutt to death without provocation.”

Judlin is being held on a $1 million bail, and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Update: In regards to Elvis’s question below, I contacted Dan Donohoe from the King County Prosecutor’s office, and that they are still considering amending the charges to 1st degree murder, with a decision coming “at a later date”.   Judlin’s arraignment is scheduled for July 21st.

0 thoughts on “Charges Filed in 4th of July Murder – Updated”

  1. i’d think this was a pretty good case for 1st degree murder–i.e…repeatedly stabbing somebody and sitting on their face.

    any matlock’s in here that can tell me why it isn’t?

  2. 1st degree murder requires premeditation. Repeatedly stabbing and sitting on someone’s face doesn’t go towards premeditation. If this guy was under the influence, he may not have had the capacity to commit 1st degree murder either. That’s my Monday morning quarterbacking…

  3. so simply stating that he did it on a whim gets him 2nd degree? f me running. well coached.

  4. Unless the police have evidence to the contrary (e.g. he bought the murder weapon the day before).

  5. I’ts 2nd degree murder because he killed his WIFE. Women, in case you haven’t noticed, are still second class citizens in this country, and as a result, crimes against women are not prosecuted as stringently. Pardon me if I am bitter, but 10 years ago a very good friend of mine was murdered by her husband. He hit her in the head with a 2 x 4 and then strangled her. He had repeatedly threatened to kill her. He was charged with Manslaughter and got six years. That means he is walking the streets with you and me right now. Apparently wives are still considered chattel.