MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - The accused gunman in the Skagit County shooting spree has changed his plea to guilty on 18 charges including murder, attempted murder and burglary.
Isaac Zamora, 29, was charged in the killing of six people, including a sheriff's deputy in September of last year. Four people were injured.
Prosecutor Rich Weyrich said he looked all the evidence, talked to the victim's families and decided a plea deal that would put Zamora away for life beat going for the death penalty.
"It could have drug on for many, many years," he said.
"It keeps him from ever getting on the streets," said Weirich. "He'll either be in Western State Hospital or he'll be in the Department of Corrections."
"I think it was probably the right thing to do, I mean, you know, it's not like he's going to be turned loose," said Doyle Guffie, who was friends with two of the victims, Deputy Anne Jackson and Julie Binschus.
"I think there's a point you've just got to let it go. It's over, nothing's going to bring them back and he's going to be out of society, so," said Guffie.
A source familiar with the negotiations tells KING 5 all but one or two of the victim's immediate family members supported the deal.
"The prosecuting attorney here was in a very difficult situation, when you're prosecuting someone for such a horrible crime, but also someone who was obviously insane," said attorney Dean Brett.
Brett represents some of the families, which are now suing the state.
Before the murders, Zamora had 21 prior convictions.
The families argue that if the Department of Corrections would have kept track of Zamora and his mental health, the shooting spree never would have happened.
Zamora was charged with six counts of aggravated murder, six counts of attempted murder in the first degree, three counts of burglary in the first degree, and one count each of residential burglary, robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors accused Zamora of murder in the deaths of Deputy Jackson, 58-year-old Chester Rose, David Radcliffe, Greg Gillum, Leroy Lange and Binschus.
The rampage started on Sept. 2, just after 2 p.m. 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 Chester Rose, 58, who also had been shot.
Also killed were 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.
Motorist LeRoy Lange, a 64-year-old Methow resident, was shot and killed on the freeway.
Zamora then drove to the Skagit County's Sheriff's Office in Mount Vernon, where he surrendered and was taken into police custody.
In order for Zamora to accept the plea deal, prosecutors had to agree to let him plead "not guilty by reason of insanity" to two of the murders - his first two victims, Anne Jackson and Chester Rose.
This was a legal strategy by the defense, which guarantees Zamora will first go to mental hospital. If his mental illness were ever cured, he would be transferred to prison.
Sentencing is nov. 30.
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