Sherer murder case appealed; inmate claims evidence was insufficient

Steven Sherer, a Redmond man serving a 60-year prison sentence for murdering his wife, whose body was never found, has filed an appeal with the state claiming there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

"If one begins with the presumption of innocence, the state did not prove (Sherer) killed her," said Lenell Nussbaum, Sherer's attorney. "Anytime one starts with a presumption of guilt, it's very easy to find evidence to support that."

King County prosecutors have two months before they must file a response to the 151-page appeal.

A three-judge panel at the state Court of Appeals in Seattle will then listen to oral arguments — probably next spring — and decide whether to grant Sherer a new trial or uphold his conviction.

Now 39, Sherer is being held in the state prison at Walla Walla. He has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation and trial.

Jami Sherer, a Microsoft employee, disappeared Sept. 30, 1990, when she was 26. She had called her mother that afternoon to say she'd be right over after making a quick stop at a Redmond Taco Time.

At the time, police suspected Steven Sherer and searched his Redmond home and collected evidence from Jami's abandoned sports car. But with no body, no blood and no evidence, they couldn't even prove there was a murder case to solve.

Three Redmond police detectives reopened the case four years ago. Based on their work, prosecutors filed a first-degree-murder charge in January 2000. Steven Sherer was convicted and sentenced a short time later.

According to Nussbaum, the bulk of the prosecution's case involved painting Sherer as an unpleasant person, "a bad guy with a short temper."

"After 10 years, many people were happy to talk about what a horrible person he was," Nussbaum said. "The state decided to rest on that ... because they couldn't find Jami or even any evidence showing what happened to her. But that's just not the way our justice system works."

In the appeal, Nussbaum also said police failed to aggressively pursue a second suspect, Toby Parker, who allegedly sold crack cocaine to Steven Sherer and had group sex with Steven and Jami.

Parker failed two lie-detector tests regarding Jami's disappearance and was twice convicted of domestic violence against his own wife.

"There was no more specific evidence to implicate Steven Sherer than there was Toby Parker," Nussbaum said.

Nussbaum said other reasonable doubts could have been raised by the fact Jami Sherer fit the profile of serial-killer victims.

But King County Superior Court Judge Anthony Wartnik would not allow the jury to hear that evidence.

Nussbaum contends that was unfair because serial killer Robert Yates Jr. began killing women as early as 1975. That raises the possibility that Yates could have been a suspect.

Yates, of Spokane, was sentenced to 408 years in prison after pleading guilty in October to killing 13 people — mostly women with ties to drugs and prostitution. Yates faces two more murder charges in Pierce County and is scheduled to stand trial April 29.

"When you have evidence that is as speculative as the state had, they should have allowed the evidence," Nussbaum said.

Michael Ko can be reached at 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com.