Wallingford Attacker Draws 60-Year Term

It was get-tough time in court yesterday for a veteran criminal whose escalating serial attacks on women terrorized Wallingford residents last year.

King County Superior Court Judge Frank Sullivan told Lennie Todd Cain he'd been a danger to society since he was 13, and then sentenced him to 60 years in prison - far longer than sentencing guidelines for his attempted-murder, robbery and burglary convictions would normally call for.

Cain, 25, went on a crime spree last year, assaulting four Wallingford-area women in separate attacks between Jan. 23 and April 15. The victims all were home alone at night and all lived within a 12-block radius.

One told the judge that the parole board's action in releasing Cain, a veteran criminal, just before the latest crime spree was as if the board ``had placed a human bomb on the seat of crowded bus in a populated neighborhood.''

During the last of the four attacks, Cain had tried to kill that woman, a young mother, in the presence of her 3-year-old son.

The mother had urged a maximum sentence, describing Cain as ``a repeating, vengeful, predatory, confrontational felon . . . whose crimes escalated towards murder.''

The mother, who was shot in the face after Cain learned she had called 911, told Sullivan:

``How do I answer my son when he repeatedly asks, `Mommy, why did that man shoot you?' How do I explain something I hardly understand myself except to say this man was guided by evil and he made some very wrong choices - in my case, a choice which nearly resulted in a widower and a motherless child?''

Sullivan listened. In finding aggravating factors for the long sentence, the judge said Cain knew a young child was present. Within seconds of the shooting, the boy ``was at his mother's side, watching blood pour down her face.''

Sullivan also noted that the offenses were committed within a short time and within days of his release from prison on Jan. 4.

Cain has been a danger for years and seems like he would be a future danger, Sullivan said.

In the Wallingford spree, Cain was convicted of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted robbery, three counts of first-degree robbery, one count of second-degree robbery and four counts of first-degree burglary.

Defense attorneys said the exceptional sentence was too severe for someone who had not killed or raped during the spree. The standard range for the nine crimes was from nearly 26 years to about 34 years.

Before his parole, Cain had been sent to prison on 1981 convictions for rape and burglary.

Some of the Wallingford victims said they plan to attend the hearing for revocation of Cain's parole. The board can reinstate the unserved part of his earlier sentence for up to a life term, a prosecutor said.