Court Overturns Prison Term Of Seattle Man In Wife's Slaying

SEATTLE - The state Court of Appeals has overturned the exceptional prison sentence given to a Seattle businessman who killed his wife and dumped her body in Hood Canal.

George Gehrett, of the Magnolia area, received a sentence of almost 17 years based on the trauma his children suffered because he killed their mother. That's three years over the standard maximum sentence for the crime.

The appeals panel, in a unanimous decision released yesterday, sent the case back to King County Superior Court Judge Robert Alsdorf for resentencing.

Alsdorf had agreed with prosecutors in 1994 that Gehrett was motivated to kill his wife, Stephanie Rooks Gehrett, to take her away from the children and could foresee the devastation her death would have on them.

But the appeals court agreed with defense attorneys that there was insufficient evidence the children suffered extraordinary trauma.

Gehrett pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.