Pregnant woman’s killer sentenced

Six years after 33-year-old Robin Anderson and her unborn baby were stabbed to death, her former boyfriend Robbie Bishop was sentenced to nearly 35 years in prison for killing them.

Anderson was found dead in August 2009 inside the home where the couple lived. Bishop was found nearby, covered in blood, with cuts on his hands. He used three knives to stab Anderson 50 times.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Anderson’s death and second-degree domestic violence assault for the death of the unborn baby.

Prosecuting attorney Anthony Hazel asked Spokane County Superior Court Judge James Triplet to impose the highest standard sentence.

“The way that this homicide took place and the number of stab wounds to Ms. Anderson was astonishing,” he said. “She was a very kindhearted person. She was looking forward to being a mother. She was in the prime of her life and that was taken from her by Robbie Bishop.”

Bishop, 25, has been diagnosed with a mental illness and a developmental disability. He had been in and out of Eastern State Hospital several times. After he was arrested for Anderson’s murder, he was declared not competent to stand trial in 2012 and was sent to Eastern. The charges were dropped.

But Bishop allegedly threatened to kill an executive at the mental hospital in December 2012 and was found competent to stand trial for that charge. Prosecutors re-filed the murder charges in 2013, setting off another competency fight. Triplet ruled that Bishop was competent to stand trial earlier this year.

As part of the plea agreement Bishop signed, charges of arson and second-degree assault against a cellmate will not be filed. The arson charge is for a fire Bishop allegedly set at Adams Elementary School in Spokane Valley in June 2009. In early 2009, Bishop was found not competent to stand trial on charges of burglary, theft and malicious mischief. His only conviction is for third-degree assault.

The prosecutor said Bishop killed Anderson because she told him that she was breaking up with him and that their unborn son, whom she planned to name Hayden, would have her last name.

“She was attempting to get away from him,” Hazel said. “He told his cousin that if she ever tried to leave him, he would kill her.”

Hazel said Bishop once boasted that he had the Eastern State Hospital doctors “eating out of his hand.”

“Mr. Bishop, for a time, thought he could get away with it,” Hazel said. “This was vicious.”

Bishop’s attorney, Anna Nordtvet, said Bishop has had a difficult and traumatic life. “If you sit down and talk to him, he feels terrible about this,” she said.

Members of Anderson’s family spoke during Bishop’s sentencing. Her mother said in a written statement that her family is forever broken and addressed Bishop directly. “Robin only wanted to protect you,” she wrote. “Little did we know she was the one that needed to be protected.”

Anderson’s father, Rodney Anderson, struggled to maintain his composure as he spoke. He said his daughter had her own disabilities and often put others ahead of herself, as she did with Bishop. Her goal was to get Bishop the help he needed, Rodney Anderson said. “Robin was a very sweet, caring girl,” he said.

Bishop made a short statement in front of his family and Anderson’s family. “I’m sorry for what I did,” he said. “I wish it didn’t go that way.”

Triplet acknowledged that Bishop has developmental delays, but said he was imposing the maximum allowed sentence on the first-degree murder charge, plus another six years for three weapons enhancements.

“I can’t imagine what it would feel like to lose a child or a grandchild,” he said in court. “There are so many more people that you hurt, Mr. Bishop, other than Ms. Anderson and Hayden.”