Arsonist gets 24 years, double standard term
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Spector, who agreed to an exceptional sentence proposed by the state, stripped Parmelee of his indigent status — which means he'll have to pay to appeal his conviction — and ordered him to pay all court costs, attorneys' fees and $50,000 in fines. He will receive credit for the almost two years he has spent in the King County Jail.
After a three-week trial, a jury convicted Parmelee in April on two counts of first-degree arson for two fires, one in February 1998 outside the Shoreline home of attorney Kathryn Jenkins, and the second, in March 2002, targeting Bellevue attorney Cara Starr.
Parmelee's co-defendant, Rick Stone, 27, was also found guilty on one count of first-degree arson in the firebombing of Starr's sport-utility vehicle. Stone is expected to be sentenced July 2.
Parmelee briefly addressed the court yesterday, likening himself to Jesus Christ and to Jews killed in the Holocaust.
"It's a shame justice continues to elude people such as myself," he said.
The judge called his analogy "outrageous," saying the heroes in the case were the attorneys who stood by their clients despite Parmelee's pattern of intimidation and harassment that was designed to deprive the lawyers' female clients of representation.
Parmelee was charged in August 2002 with firebombing the cars of two attorneys — Jenkins, who had represented his ex-wife in divorce proceedings, and Starr, who represented the ex-girlfriend of his boss and roommate. In 1989, Parmelee was convicted of stalking his ex-wife; the state Court of Appeals recently rejected his appeal of that conviction.
According to prosecutors, Parmelee, who has a history of larceny, battery and theft, was working as a paralegal for an Issaquah lawyer with whom he was also living with two years ago.
The Issaquah lawyer had filed a lawsuit against a former girlfriend, who was in the escort industry, to recover a diamond ring he'd given her.
Parmelee became enraged, prosecutors said, when he tried to serve court papers to Starr, the escort's Bellevue lawyer, and she refused to meet with him in person. A short time later, Starr's SUV was firebombed and destroyed.
Stone, Parmelee's co-defendant, was charged as an accomplice in the 2002 arson when investigators found a bag of firecrackers in his home that matched unexploded fireworks found outside Starr's Bellevue home.
Prosecutors also said Parmelee was responsible for the 1998 firebombing of a pickup owned by Jenkins.
No one was injured in either incident.
King County senior deputy prosecutor Marilyn Brenneman said Parmelee deserved an exceptional sentence because of the extensive planning and sophisticated execution of both arsons, and because the crimes were "designed to frustrate the integrity of the justice system."
Defense attorney John Hicks had requested a standard sentence of between nine and 12 years for his client. Hicks declined to comment on the case yesterday.
Starr, who sat next to Jenkins in court yesterday, praised Brenneman's handling of the case.
"This was a gutsy case to take because (so much of the evidence) was circumstantial," said Starr.
"It was difficult to win," but Brenneman worked hard to "tie (a bunch of small) details together" to convince the jury of Parmelee's guilt, she said.
Times staff reporter Christine Clarridge contributed to this report.
Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com