Men Admit Killing Navy Officer

Fri., Sept. 8, 2000

Two men accused in what one official called the “thrill kill” of a Navy officer pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder.

Seth Anderson, 23, and his half brother, Eben Berriault, 36, pleaded guilty in the death of Lt. j.g. Scott Kinkele, an Annapolis graduate stationed at Whidbey Island. A third man, Adam Moore, 25, is charged with first-degree manslaughter in the attack.

Kinkele’s relatives said they were disappointed in the guilty pleas. They wanted an aggravated murder charge, which could bring the death penalty upon conviction.

Prosecutors said Kinkele, 23, was driving on Washington 20 shortly after midnight July 28 when Moore, Anderson and Berriault pulled up behind him in another vehicle. Anderson was driving and Berriault fired at the rear window of Kinkele’s car. Kinkele was shot in the back of the head.

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