Court rejects killer’s appeal

Richard A. Atkinson told the Washington Court of Appeals he should have gotten a below-standard sentence for murdering his wife in April 2004 by running over her repeatedly in front of their young children.

Atkinson, now 34, argued that his jury and Spokane County Superior Court Judge Robert Austin improperly ignored Atkinson’s diminished-capacity defense in the death of his estranged wife, 29-year-old Andrea Atkinson.

The Court of Appeals disagreed this week.

A three-judge panel said the jury properly convicted Atkinson of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree assault and one count of reckless endangerment, and Austin properly sentenced him to 50 years in prison – nine years more than the standard maximum.