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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Classmates Split On Verdicts Some Feel Eye For An Eye Would Be More Appropriate For Killer Of 3

Nicholas K. Geranios Associated Press

There was no rejoicing at Frontier Junior High School on Wednesday.

The building where Barry Loukaitis opened fire in a classroom in February 1996 is now a gutted brick shell, in the middle of a long-planned renovation.

Loukaitis’ former classmates are now high school students, and several reacted with satisfaction as news of his conviction spread through this town of 12,000 people.

“He deserves what he gets,” said Jessica Alvarado, 15, who knew two of Loukaitis’ victims.

Although the 16-year-old Loukaitis faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing a teacher and two classmates, some think the sentence is not stiff enough.

“Why should he have a life if he killed somebody?” Alvarado wondered. “I don’t care how old he is. He was smart enough to work a gun.”

“Him being put in prison is not going to bring those people back,” said Jackie Garcia, 15.

She is acquainted with Natalie Hintz, the girl who was gravely wounded in the shootings and is still recovering. Hintz told classmates on Wednesday that she still has trouble sleeping, Garcia said.

Loukaitis was convicted by a King County jury of aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of classmates Manuel Vela and Arnold Fritz, both 14, and the second-degree murder of teacher Leona Caires, 49. He was also convicted of assault in the Hintz shooting and 16 counts of kidnapping for holding students and another teacher hostage.

Because Loukaitis was 14 at the time of the killings, he was not eligible for the death penalty.

The students questioned were not impressed by defense arguments that marital problems and impending divorce of Loukaitis’ parents pushed the youth over the edge and led him to kill.

“It’s not like his mom put a gun to his head,” said Belinda Alvarado, 15. “I feel sorry for his parents.”

Officials for the Moses Lake School District quietly informed teachers of the verdicts and let them decide how and if they would relay the news to students.

Announcing the verdicts over the school speaker system would have been inappropriate, school district spokesman P.J. DiBenedetti said. But, at the same time, school officials did not want students to learn the news via news broadcasts, he said.

None of the students questioned Wednesday learned of the verdicts in class.

The killings shattered the peace of this farming town 130 miles east of Seattle, set amid the irrigated fields of Eastern Washington.

Subsequent months brought new horrors. In July 1996, a 14-year-old boy invoked Loukaitis’ name when he broke into a house, fired three shots from a rifle and took a man hostage. People captured the boy without harm.

Last December, another 14-year-old boy - a first cousin of Fritz - used a hunting rifle to kill his mother and stepsister. The boy then fatally shot himself in the head. Relatives said the boy was deeply affected by the death of his cousin.

Wednesday was a hot, sunny day in the Columbia Basin, a sharp contrast to the icy Feb. 2 when Loukaitis walked into his algebra classroom and opened fire.

School Superintendent Steve Chestnut said the verdict will bring a sense of closure.

“It will allow us to concentrate on what we are here for,” Chestnut said. “Kids are pretty resilient. They are ready to move on.”

Some adults had a more forgiving view of the crime.

“I feel real bad that this kid will spend his life in prison, but he deserves it,” said Ken Green, a shoe repairman. “There is no revenge factor. … It’s hard to have revenge when you wish it on a child.”

But Jeff Sproles wondered why the death penalty did not apply to Loukaitis.

“You have to pay for him for the rest of his life,” Sproles said, referring to the costs to imprison Loukaitis. “Would I put a bullet in his head? Sure.”