Wash. man convicted in fellow student's murder
Criminal Law
A 20-year-old man who had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic was convicted Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a fellow high school student.
Douglas S. Chanthabouly had been charged with first-degree murder but a Pierce County Superior Court jury convicted him of second-degree murder. He had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Chanthabouly faces about 15 to 30 years in prison for the shooting of Samnang Kok, 17, in a hallway at Foss High School on Jan. 3, 2007. If he had been acquitted by reason of insanity, he would have been committed indefinitely to a state mental institution. Sentencing was set for May 1.
"We're disappointed and expect that we'll be filing an appeal," court-appointed defense lawyer John A. McNeish said, declining to specify grounds for an appeal.
Prosecutor Ed Murphy said he did not know the split among jurors on the charge of first-degree murder, which requires a finding of premeditation.
"I think it was a difficult issue for the jury," Murphy said.
During the trial, witnesses testified that Chanthabouly pointed a handgun at Kok and fired a shot into his face and two more rounds into his body from no more than a foot away.
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