State v. Rice

• Decision Date: 09 June 1988
• Docket Number: No. 52955-8
• Citation: State v. Rice, 110 Wn.2d 577, 757 P.2d 889 (Wash. 1988)
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: The STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. David Lewis RICE, Appellant.

Page 577

110 Wn.2d 577

757 P.2d 889

The STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. David Lewis RICE, Appellant.

No. 52955-8.

Supreme Court of Washington En Banc.

June 9, 1988.

Reconsideration Denied Aug. 16, 1988.

Michael A. Frost, Seattle, Hal Sheets, Everett, for appellant.

Norm Maleng, King County Prosecutor, Robert S. Lasnik, Chief of Staff, William L. Downing, Senior Deputy, Seattle, for respondent.

DURHAM, Justice.

A King County Superior Court jury found David Lewis Rice guilty on four counts of aggravated first degree murder and in the special sentencing hearing concluded that leniency from the death penalty was not merited. Accordingly, the trial court sentenced Rice to death. We affirm.

FACTS

In the early evening hours of Christmas Eve 1985, guests arrived at the home of Seattle attorney, Charles Goldmark, his wife, Annie, and their children to share in a holiday dinner. All the lights but one were out, and there was no response when they rang the doorbell. The guests waited 15 or 20 minutes, but when there was still no sign of their hosts, they went home. After repeated telephone calls yielded a busy signal, they became alarmed and returned to the Goldmark residence. This time they thought they could hear moaning coming from inside the house. They drove to the nearby home of Jeffrey Haley, where they knew they could find a key to the Goldmark house. They returned to the Goldmark residence with Jeffrey Haley and his brother, Peter.

When Peter and Jeffrey Haley entered the house, the moaning became "very loud and very disturbing." When they got to the top of the stairs, they saw a body lying on the floor of the master bedroom. They entered the room and found three more bodies. The bodies were those of Charles Goldmark, his wife, Annie, and their two children, 10-year-old Colin and 12-year-old Derek. Annie appeared to have a stab wound in her chest, while Charles and the boys all appeared to have head wounds. Charles and Annie had been handcuffed with their arms behind their backs. Charles was yelling and thrashing about on the floor but in his delirious state did not seem aware of the Haleys' presence. They used a hacksaw to remove Charles' handcuffs in an attempt to ease his distress.

Members of the police and fire departments arrived at the Goldmark residence a short time later. The fire fighters began giving medical attention to the victims and the police began gathering evidence. In the master bedroom, the police found the knife and steam iron that had apparently been used in attacking the family. Annie Goldmark was pronounced dead at the scene. The two boys were found with sweaters knotted so tightly around their necks that the fire fighters could not insert their fingers under the sweaters. Blood had splattered on virtually every wall, concentrating around the areas of the bodies. The pattern of the bloodstains around the room indicated that the victims had probably been struck while they were lying on the floor. Shortly thereafter, medical personnel arrived, treated the victims, and took them to the hospital. Charles, Colin and Derek all died within the next 5 weeks.

On December 26, the police received a telephone call from a Robert Brown a/k/a Husayn Omar Sayfuddiya telling them his belief that an overnight guest in his apartment was involved in the Goldmark killings. The night before, Brown had opened his guest's notebook, without the knowledge of his guest, and had read a letter saying, "To whom it may concern, I am the person you are looking for in the Goldmark case." Police met Robert Brown near his apartment and talked to him briefly. Brown said that the guest's name was David Rice. While waiting for some detectives to arrive, the police saw a man matching Rice's description descend the apartment steps and walk down the street. As the police approached him, he turned and ran. The police chased and caught him a few blocks later when, in mid-chase, the suspect stopped running, removed a vial from his pocket, took a drink from its contents, and threw away the vial. The police retrieved the vial, and subsequent analysis indicated that it contained liquid nicotine. ¹ The suspect identified himself as David Rice. Brown retrieved the notebook from his apartment building and gave it to the police.

Rice was taken into custody and was informed of his Miranda rights. A detective showed him the letter that Robert Brown had given them, and Rice admitted that he had written it. The full text of that letter reads as follows:

To whom it may concern,

I am the person you are looking for in the Goldmark case.

I know that what I did was a very terrible thing. That is why I am as you see me now.

I want it perfectly understood that no one else had anything whatsoever to do with what I did. I went to great lengths to make sure of that.

The person that I live with doesn't even know that I am wanted on a different charge. She received a couple of messages on her machine, but I erased them before she got to them.

I did not use the rifle that I purchased a few weeks ago, instead, I fooled them with a toy pistol which you will find in the storage locker. I threw the rifle ["pistol" was originally written, then crossed out] away a couple of weeks ago.

Again, I want it understood that no one knew anything about this, so please do not cause any unnecessary suffering to innocent people. I think that I've already done enough.

I guess I should tell you why I did what I did. That way, you won't have to ask other people about it. My life is a mess. It has been since my wife left. Anne has been trying to help me straighten it out, but I'm afraid

The detective asked Rice if he wanted to complete this note. Rice agreed, and finished it by writing,

I am afraid that she isn't able to do much for me. I am much too far gone.

When I left high school, I could go out and get a job in any town, at any time I needed one.

When I got married, jobs were starting to get scarce. I had to do more walking & searching to find work. I found myself more and more on the unemployment line, which was getting longer and longer.

I went to the government offices to see what I could do to alleviate my employment situation, and they recommended that I go to school & learn engineering.

At this point, Rice told the police that he wanted to tell what had happened, but he wanted to first speak to an attorney. The detective let Rice use the telephone to contact Seattle attorney, William Lanning, who arrived a short time thereafter. Rice conferred with Lanning for about an hour and a half, after which time Lanning gave the police a statement that Rice had signed, indicating that Rice wanted to talk to the police even though he knew that any statements could be used against him. ²

In a tape-recorded interview with two detectives, Rice confessed that he was the Goldmarks' assailant. In that confession, he described the motivations behind his acts, the extent of his preparations, and the manner in which he completed his murders.

As to motivation, Rice stated that his financial situation had been deteriorating prior to the murders, a situation he hoped to alleviate by robbing the Goldmarks. He had lost his job more than 1 year earlier, was getting deeper in debt, and had been staying at the apartment of Anne Davis at various times since August. ³ When Davis left for Christmas vacation, she allowed Rice to stay in her apartment and she left him some food and a small amount of money to help him get by, but said that he had to be out of the apartment by the time she returned. While she was gone, he pawned her television for $10. Rice stated that he faced "terminal unemployment", his unemployment compensation had run out 4 or 5 months earlier, and he had "no place [to] turn to". He indicated that his financial situation was the reason why he acted on the day he did.

Rice also spoke of a political motivation for his crimes, based on his mistaken belief that Charles Goldmark belonged to the local Communist Party. Rice stated that he hoped to force Goldmark to give him information about other local Communists. In later interviews, he revealed that his intent was to work his way up the ladder of what he perceived to be a Communist conspiracy to take over the country.

Rice stated that both his political beliefs and his financial situation motivated his acts. He later estimated that his motivations on Christmas Eve were 50 percent financial and 50 percent a desire to gain information.

In his confession, Rice detailed the extent of his preparations. He indicated that he had been planning to kill Charles and Annie Goldmark for approximately 6 months, and that this was his primary intent on the day of the murders. He had not planned on killing any children. He did not expect any children to be present and would not have gone to their house if he had known any would be there. Nevertheless, he felt he had to kill the entire family once they had seen him.

Three separate times he attempted to get a look at the Goldmarks and their house. On approximately November 1, Rice had traveled to the Goldmarks' neighborhood to "see what kind of house it was and just to check out the neighborhood." On that trip, Rice did not see anybody at the Goldmark house and "wasn't absolutely positive" that they even lived there. At this point, Rice did not even know what Charles and Annie Goldmark looked like. One week later, Rice visited Charles Goldmark's office building, apparently in an attempt to determine what he looked like. This attempt, too, was unsuccessful. Finally, Rice returned to the Goldmark residence in the first week of December in order to confirm that they lived there, but again nobody appeared to be home. ⁴

Rice's preparations included ensuring that he had the means to complete his mission. He purchased an M-1 rifle to use on the Goldmarks, but later decided against using it because of its noise and bulk. He also purchased two pairs of...