Woman found guilty of hiring hitman
A Spokane Valley attorney’s former girlfriend and longtime legal assistant was convicted Wednesday of paying a “hitman” $1,000 to kill him.
Fortunately for attorney Peter Dahlin, the assassin was an undercover sheriff’s detective, Leroy Fairbanks.
Spokane Police detectives videotaped two meetings in which Jackie R. Burton, 37, hired Fairbanks in January to kill Dahlin painfully and later said, “Thank you, thank you,” when shown photographs of Dahlin appearing to be dead.
Deputy Prosecutor Steve Garvin told jurors the videotaped evidence reminded him of one of the Latin phrases he learned in law school: res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself.
The jury agreed, and in 21/2 hours convicted Burton as charged with solicitation of first-degree murder. Burton faces a standard range of 15 to 20 years in prison when Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt sentences her.
No sentencing date was set Wednesday.
Defense attorney Bevan Maxey tried unsuccessfully to convince jurors that Burton was entrapped by police and coerced by tavern bouncer Jon K. Ballentine, who introduced her to Fairbanks. Police improperly set up a sting without preventing the 6-foot-31/2-inch, 300-pound Ballentine from threatening Burton, giving her alcohol or having sex with her, Maxey said.
Spokane psychologist Mark Mays Jr. testified that Burton was particularly susceptible to coercion and entrapment because of alcoholism, depression and two personality disorders involving “hot and cold” mood swings and paranoia.
Mays also found that Burton has an IQ of 126, compared with an average of 100. Burton’s intelligence score places her among the top 5 percent of the population.
Burton’s problems were insufficient for an insanity defense, but Mays said she has a long history of mental health treatment that includes two suicide attempts. He said her problems began in childhood, when her brother died in a motorcycle crash and her alcoholic father threatened her mother with a gun and physically abused everyone in the family.
Mays said Burton’s adult relationships with men also were abusive, leaving her more likely to take men’s threats seriously and succumb to them.
Dahlin testified that he broke off his relationship with Burton and fired her because of her alcoholic rages. But Burton testified that Dahlin “could be very evil,” and she feared him.
Burton said she approached Ballentine, a client of the law office where she was working, for protection. Ballentine suggested hiring an Aryan Nations-type person from North Idaho to kill Dahlin and got angry when she declined, Burton said.
According to Burton, Ballentine said he had already made arrangements and, while toying with a handgun, told her she couldn’t back out because the hitman would kill her instead. Perceiving a choice between her life and Dahlin’s, Burton said she chose to save herself.
“I was scared,” she testified. “I was also intoxicated.”
Ballentine testified that Burton asked him to kill Dahlin. Ballentine said he refused, but Burton had sex with him and persisted in trying to get him to kill Dahlin, so he contacted police.