Video: Skagit County shooting suspect appears in court

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MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - In court Friday, 28-year-old Isaac Zamora heard the list of charges he will most likely face within the next few weeks.

He's accused in a shooting rampage that left six people dead and four others wounded in Skagit County.

With a vacant stare, he made a statement which could not have been more disturbing.

"I kill for God," Zamora said. "I listen to God."

The 28-year-old faces 10 counts in all for the Skagit County shooting spree. Prosecutors accused Zamora of first-degree murder in the deaths of Deputy Anne Jackson and 58-year-old Chester Rose.

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Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy Anne Jackson, 40, was killed in Alger.

He's accused of three counts of murder with extreme indifference for the deaths of construction workers David Radcliffe and Greg Gillum, and the death of Leroy Lange, who was driving on I-5.

He's also facing first-degree premeditated murder for the death of Julie Binschus.

"It's just two different ways of committing a crime," said Rich Weyrich, Skagit County prosecutor. "There's different alternatives of committing a crime and our allegations are in different cases, there may have been different facts that go along with that."

There are four other assault counts.

The charges are still not officially filed, but that's expected to happen within the next 30 days.

The six victims are being remembered across the county with large memorials displays in Mount Vernon and near the crime scene in Alger, where neighbors are still having trouble containing their grief.

"Whether you know them or didn't know them, you know the way that they had to die for no reason at all," said Shirley Wenrick. "It's just horrible and the community will never be the same."

Police and prosecutors still haven't revealed where the murder weapon or weapons came from. They say they have not determined a reason for Tuesday's rampage.

Memorials

The first of many funerals of the victims was held Friday. 64-year-old LeRoy Lange was remembered in Alger.

The sheriff's office is expecting a huge turnout for Deputy Jackson's memorial, scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 9 at Burlington-Edison High School, located on 301 N. Burlington Blvd in Burlington, Wash.

"We expect attendance at the memorial service to include members of the law enforcement community from across the pacific northwest and British Columbia . Governor Christine Gregoire, other state officials and representatives of fire and other public service agencies and members of the local community will also be in attendance," said Erica Work, of the memorial planning team.

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LeRoy Lange, 64, was identified as a victim in the shooting rampage.

Dennise Zamora, Isaac's mother, described Jackson as a sympathetic figure who had tried to help the family in the past.

She described her son as "desperately mentally ill."

In a statement released Thursday, Jackson's family said they hold no animosity toward Zamora, or his family, saying: "We know that she knew and had offered her personal help to the family of the man who committed this terrible act, because she had experienced the pain of a similar mental affliction suffered by her own brother. The sorrows and tragedies of mental illness affect the health of the whole community."

Jackson, 40, became a deputy in 2005 and had previously worked three years as an animal control officer. She was not married and had no children.

Officials say donations to her memorial fund can be made at any Skagit State Bank.

Chronology of events

The rampage started just after 2 p.m. Tuesday when Jackson responded to a 911 call from Zamora's mother in the 19800 block of Silver Creek Drive.

Almost at the same time came a 911 call from a house on nearby Bridle Place. Apparently Jackson went there next where she was shot.

When more deputies responded, they found that Jackson had been killed, along with victim Chester Rose, 58, who also had been shot.

Three other people were found dead in the area, including 48-year-old Julie Binschus of Sedro-Woolley and two construction workers, David Radcliffe, 57, and Greg Gillum, 38, both of Mount Vernon.

After the shootings in the Alger area, police believe Zamora drove south on Interstate 5. The armed suspect raced at speeds in excess of 90 mph, with police in pursuit.

One motorcyclist was shot in the arm at a Shell gas station in Alger.

A state trooper, Troy Giddings, was grazed in the arm by a bullet along I-5 near a rest stop. He drove himself to a nearby hospital and was latear released.

Motorist LeRoy Lange, a 64-year-old Methow resident, was shot and killed on the freeway.

The suspect then drove to the Skagit County's Sheriff's Office in Mount Vernon where he surrendered and was taken into police custody around 4:30 p.m.

A Skagit County sheriff's spokesman said the wounded included the motorcyclist, the trooper, a 61-year-old Alger homeowner who was allegedly stabbed twice in the chest by the suspect and later treated and released from a hospital, and another motorist - a 56-year-old man who was shot and wounded in Alger.

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David Thomas Radcliffe

The grieving families Friday said the suspect should never have been out on the street.

"He had a rap sheet with like 10 things on it," said Tonya Fenton. "That kind of person should not have been out."

Zamora

Zamora had been admitted several times to hospitals for mental health treatment and attempted suicide several times, his friends and family said.

After the family's home burned down when he was 14, a doctor diagnosed him as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder but said his problems would likely subside after puberty, his mother, Dennise Zamora, told The Seattle Times.

But in the past five years, Zamora has been in and out of courtrooms, accused of malicious mischief, drug possession and theft, and was last released from jail about a month ago after serving six months for cocaine possession.

Zamora's record includes about 50 court cases in Washington state, the Skagit Valley Herald reported. Most were misdemeanors ranging from driving on a suspended license to possession of marijuana, but eight cases were felonies, including three before he turned 18.

In 2007, he was convicted of malicious mischief for throwing a cement block at a neighbor's car. "Isaac Zamora was mad because I didn't go hiking with him, he has anger and mental health issues," the neighbor, Steven Schnur wrote in court records.

Ex-girlfriend Connie Hickman, who met Zamora in 2000 when they both worked at a health care facility, told The Seattle Times that he had a lot of promise, but signs of trouble kept recurring. Hickman said his growing volatility eventually led her to take out protection orders and leave the state, and that she has had no contact with him for about three years.

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Isaac Zamora, 28, appears in court on Friday, Sept. 5.

He made threats and started fights over "things that never happened," Hickman said. She initially blamed his drinking and drug use, but then he was diagnosed with both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and told her at one point he was hearing voices.

In 2003, Hickman and Dennise Zamora took him to a Whatcom County hospital, saying they feared for their safety. He was held involuntarily for a few weeks of treatment and then released.

"The night after he was released, he called me and said, 'I want to go back,"' she recalled. But when he showed up again at the hospital, it declined to admit him. The reason why is unclear, but state rules concerning uninsured treatment for mental illness can be difficult to negotiate for patients and their families.

Eventually, he was admitted to another hospital. During that stay, court records show he bit an orderly who was trying to restrain him. Criminal charges were filed, but later dropped.

"The next day, they discharged him," Hickman said. "How could they put him out on the streets when it was obvious the man had some issues?"

She said he was given a prescription for medicine but didn't take it because he didn't have a job and couldn't pay for it.

The community of Alger will gather Friday night at 8 p.m. at the Alger Community Church for a candlelight vigil to pay tribute to the victims.