Ackley Sentenced To Life In Prison Without Parole

A tearful Gary Ackley, convicted last month of killing two women, proclaimed his innocence this morning just minutes before a judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

"Your honor . . . . I did not kill Arlene Jensen and Stephanie Dittrick," said Ackley, reading from a prepared text. "I am innocent."

But King County Superior Court Judge Norma Huggins, who listened as Ackley pleaded to the victims' relatives to believe he had been wrongfully accused, sentenced him to 26 years and eight months in prison for killing of Jensen.

She then rendered the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Dittrick, prompting Ackley to rub his face with his right hand while using his left hand to wipe away tears.

James Konat and Roger Davidheiser, King County senior deputy co-prosecutors, had argued during the trial that Ackley killed Dittrick, a childhood friend, after confiding in her that he'd killed Jensen.

"Gary, I have known you all my life," said Diana Kermen, mother of Stephanie Dittrick. "How could you do this to me? To Stephanie? Stephanie stood up for you time after time after time . . . Oh why, Gary? Why?"

Another relative, Todd Dittrick, said: "The rest of my life I'm free. The choice you made to kill my sister ended your life."

Ackley was convicted Sept. 14 of aggravated first-degree murder for killing Jensen, 53, of Kingsgate, the mother of Ackley's former girlfriend, and Dittrick, 29, of Redmond.

Jensen was slain May 26, 1997, and Dittrick on July 5, 1997.

Because the jury found him guilty of aggravated first-degree murder - committing one murder to conceal another - Huggins had to sentence him to life without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors alleged during the two-month trial that Ackley wanted Jensen dead for meddling with his two children and interfering with the relationship between him and his girlfriend.

Ironically, Ackley and Jensen's daughter were officially married last week. The daughter has said she believes in Ackley's innocence.

Ackley's attorneys argued he did not kill either woman and that he was elsewhere when both disappeared. They also argued that the prosecution, lacking physical evidence, relied on scant circumstantial evidence to build its case.

Jeff Ellis, one of Ackley's defense attorneys, told Huggins today he planned to appeal the conviction. He referred the judge to a New York case, publicized today by The Associated Press, involving a man who was released from prison yesterday after being wrongfully convicted in 1991.

But relatives of Jensen said earlier that the system had worked. "What it comes down to is we have choices," said David Jensen, son of Arlene Jensen, speaking to Ackley. "We have to be responsible for our choices and live with the consequences. Today, my choice is to say goodbye to you. You are gone . . . The jury wasn't fooled."

Ronald K. Fitten's phone message number is 206-464-3251. His e-mail address is: rfitten@seattletimes.com