Bachmeier Gets Life Sentence

SEATTLE - Mathias Bachmeier, a former King County police sergeant convicted in June of aggravated first-degree murder, today was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Bachmeier, 49, was convicted of killing James Wren, 35, of Preston, to cover up an arson in an insurance scam. Prosecutors said Bachmeier torched his Renton home July 9, 1996, to collect insurance money. Wren disappeared Aug. 10, shortly after being seen in the back seat of Bachmeier's patrol car.

King County Superior Court Judge Michael Spearman rejected defense attorney John Henry Browne's motion for a new trial and noted that the jury's decision against the death penalty resulted in the life sentence. "This is the only justifiable sentence, as well," he said.

Browne's motion cited a jail officer's report that he had heard an attorney tell prosecutors in an elevator that another man had come close to confessing to the murder of Wren.

After Bachmeier's conviction June 13, he hired Browne as his attorney, and Spearman delayed Bachmeier's sentencing to give Browne time to prepare arguments in favor of a new trial.