Guilty Verdict Quickly Returned In Murder Case Stevens County Jury Reaches Decision In Less Than Three Hours

A Stevens County jury took less than three hours Friday to convict 20-year-old Andrew D. Erickson of first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the July 6 murder of a 17-year-old Newport boy.

Erickson faces a standard maximum sentence of 37-1/2 years when he and two other defendants are sentenced Feb. 16, but Prosecutor Jerry Wetle said he will recommend a longer sentence.

Erickson told the jury of eight women and four men Friday that he was surprised and didn’t participate when two companions riddled Matthew Davis with bullets and stabbed him in the neck and chest.

According to testimony, Erickson, Davis and two others were walking up the railroad tracks near Chewelah in the early morning hours, intent on stealing a car and driving somewhere to shoot a couple of .22-caliber rifles they had.

Erickson, now 20, of Loon Lake, and 18-year-old Chewelah residents Richard E. Tullis and Aaron M. Dalager had just met Davis, who was attending the Chataqua festival in Chewelah.

Wetle described Davis as a friendly kid who just wanted to fit in.

Tullis and Dalager both pleaded guilty last month to first-degree murder, and Tullis became the key witness against Erickson. Dalager refused to testify, and Wetle will recommend a 40-year prison term for him - 10 years more than Tullis - when the two are sentenced next month.

Tullis and Erickson testified they both welcomed Davis into their circle of friends, which Tullis called “a bunch of potheads” and Erickson described as “our family” or “the brotherhood” - even though some of them had been together only two or three weeks.

Davis met the criteria for membership, Erickson said: He drank, smoked marijuana and had been in trouble with the law.

Numerous members of the group said Davis joined them in “shopping” for a car to steal, but Tullis said Davis told them he had changed his mind as they walked along the railroad tracks toward a car Erickson had seen. Moments later, Tullis said, Erickson turned and emptied a 10-shot semiautomatic rifle magazine into Davis.

Tullis said he also shot Davis repeatedly and Dalager fired three shots after reloading one of the rifles. Tullis and Erickson both said Dalager also used a knife on Davis. An autopsy showed Davis suffered at least 27 gun shot wounds, was stabbed in the neck and chest, and had his throat slashed.

Tullis said that after Davis apparently was dead, he kicked him in the head and urinated on the ground near his body. Erickson said Tullis actually urinated on Davis’ body.

Erickson claimed he merely watched while the others committed the crime.

He said he and the other defendants later mimicked Davis saying, “ow, ow, ow” as he fell onto the railroad tracks. Erickson said he thought it was good for his remorseful friend Tullis to laugh.

“I’m what most people call a prankster,” Erickson testified. “I like making people laugh.”

Erickson wore a brooding expression throughout his trial, though. He acknowledged drinking red rum after the murder and singing along with a violent gangster rap song that alludes to red rum, which spells “murder” backward.

As three days of testimony concluded late Friday afternoon, Erickson’s court-appointed attorney, Robert Simeone, focused on persuading the jury to convict Erickson of second-degree instead of first-degree murder. Any verdict other than first-degree murder would be “a difficult choice,” said Wetle, whose small army of witnesses was challenged only by Erickson’s denials.

Simeone argued that many of the prosecution witnesses may have lied about Erickson because of family or romantic ties to two other defendants, or because of animosity toward Erickson. Those witnesses included Tullis’ mother, his half-brother, and Dalager’s sister and half-sister.

Under a grant of immunity, Tullis’ 23-year-old half-brother, Donald Green, said he urged Erickson to kill Davis if he intended to rob the boy. Erickson and Green described themselves as enemies.

Still, Wetle said little incentive remained for anyone to lie about Erickson after Dalager and Tullis pleaded guilty. Two of a half-dozen witnesses who said Erickson confessed to them had no incentive at all to lie, Wetle added.

Those witnesses included a Spokane resident Erickson encountered at a campground on the night after the murder and a Stevens County Jail inmate who had no prior contact with Erickson or the other defendants.

Erickson said he told camper Kevin Bromley that he had recently witnessed a murder, not that he committed one as Bromley testified. He said he told Bromley about the murder because he hoped Bromley would pass the information to police. As a former member of the Crips gang in Seattle, Erickson said he didn’t want to be a “snitch.”

Nevertheless, Erickson acknowledged that, after he was arrested, he summoned detectives to his cell and gave them an incriminating statement after twice being told he didn’t have to talk. Although he claimed to have been present without participating in the murder, Erickson told sheriff’s officers “the whole purpose of this was to take Matt Davis up into the woods and assault him and take his money.”

Erickson also told officers he didn’t think the group actually would beat Davis, but admitted “we took his wallet.” Wetle said he thought Erickson was trying to shift responsibility for the murder away from himself without realizing that admitting the robbery made him equally guilty.