Emotional End To Murder Case -- Pawlyk Consoles Jury Members

William Pawlyk, hands trembling slightly and voice quavering, forgave jurors this morning for convicting him of murder after a judge sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole.

"If any of you feel the need for forgiveness, I forgive you," the former naval officer and Richland business leader said. Reading from a prepared statement, he said the panel of 12, all of whom were present in court for today's sentencing, had been asked to perform a "God-like duty."

"I don't expect more of you. Don't expect more of yourselves," he said as one juror burst into tears. "God bless all of you."

Pawlyk's unusual statement to jurors came after King County Superior Court Judge Jim Bates sentenced him for fatally stabbing television personality Larry Sturholm and Debra Sweiger, an emergency-room nurse, in her Issaquah-area home more than two years ago.

Pawlyk, who rose from boyhood in a New York tenement to become an officer on nuclear submarines and a respected Richland businessman, also addressed news reporters after the sentencing.

Dressed in a navy blue pin-striped suit, he told them he will always believe he was insane during the murders and that he "was not smart enough" to recognize he needed help with his emotional problems. Pawlyk had been romantically involved with Sweiger.

It was important "for my own peace of mind" to let the jurors know what was in his head, he added, appearing in command except for

occasional bursts of emotion.

Judy Sturholm, widow of Larry Sturholm, said after the sentencing that she had felt empathy for Pawlyk all along. "He's appalled by what he's done and realizes he was mistaken," Sturholm said, blinking back tears. "For a man who prided himself on his control to see what a mess he's made of his life . . . I think it's sad."

But deputy prosecutor Lee Yates said he had difficulty believing Pawlyk's apologies in light of his planned appeal and continued claim of insanity. "I have compassion for the victims, but I have difficulty finding compassion for what he did and why he did it," Yates said.

Pawlyk's attorneys had maintained that he was insane when he hid in Sweiger's upscale home, first killing Sturholm, then Sweiger, believing the two were having an affair.

The two-year delay in bringing Pawlyk to trial turned on a legal challenge by King County prosecutors. The prosecution sought and received permission by the state Supreme Court to use as evidence a report by a psychiatrist originally hired by the defense. That psychiatrist had concluded Pawlyk was sane at the time of the killings and knew right from wrong when he strapped knives to his legs and carried out the surprise attacks on his victims.

The defense later consulted a Detroit psychiatrist, who testified at trial that Pawlyk was temporarily insane when he stabbed Sturholm and Sweiger about 300 times.

Jurors had deliberated about four days before rejecting Pawlyk's insanity defense and finding him guilty of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder. After the month-long trial, some jurors said they had been traumatized by the horror of the evidence.

For the first time in Washington, jurors were invited to see a videotape, "Jurors Are Victims, Too," designed to help them deal with the trauma.

"Everyone is hurt by this case," defense attorney Jeff Ellis said today. "I think what frightens everyone about this case is there is a very thin line between us and Mr. Pawlyk.

"Normally we like to think of criminals as different from us, but what we saw in this case is Mr. Pawlyk is like us."

After today's sentencing, jurors were debriefed privately by John Ganz and Doug Wheeler, who co-wrote and helped produce the videotape for jurors.

Wheeler said jurors in such cases feel anger, frustration, fear and isolation. The message of the videotape, he said, is that jurors should feel comfortable and able to vent their feelings.

After the debriefing, juror Barbara Snodgrass of Vashon Island said that during the trial it was difficult for her because she could not talk to anyone about the case. So one weekend, she asked her husband to take her to the ocean.

"I sent him away down the beach, and I sat down on a log and told the ocean everything. I said to the ocean and to the beach: `The tide will go out. You don't have to hold on to this.' "

But not all jurors were traumatized by the trial. "I feel guilty," said juror Dave Wilson. "I have no problems like they are talking about. I never had any sympathy for Pawlyk. "

Jury foreman William Royston said that while the trial had been emotional, he didn't feel he had been left with any lingering problems.

"I'm not losing sleep," he said. "I'm not getting angry with people, which are symptoms others said they had . . . I still think about it but it doesn't bug me. I think about it all the time."