Murderer pleads guilty in third case
A Spokane double-murderer pleaded guilty Monday to helping in a third murder while he was in jail for the first two.
Brandon West Martin, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree rendering criminal assistance in the October 2004 killing of 21-year-old Christopher Lee Rentz while they were cellmates in the Spokane County Jail.
Martin had been charged with first-degree murder in Rentz’s death at the hands of another cellmate.
Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza sentenced Martin to three years in prison, to be served at the same time as Martin’s other sentences. Because Martin can never be released, Monday’s conviction and sentence serve only to provide accountability, Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz said.
Michael Lee West Jr., 29, pleaded guilty in July to first-degree murder for beating and strangling Rentz. West also pleaded guilty to second-degree rape in the case for which he was in jail. He was sentenced to a maximum-standard 45 2/3 years in prison for the murder and to an indeterminate sentence of 23 1/3 years to life for the rape.
According to a fourth cellmate who didn’t participate in Rentz’s murder, Martin alternately participated and tried to defuse the situation as West sexually abused Rentz and beat him with a push broom. Court documents didn’t explain why there was a broom in the psychiatric cell the men shared.
Steinmetz said it would have been difficult to win a murder conviction against Martin because cellmate James “Jimi” Felice was expected to testify that Martin tried to get West to stop when West put a sheet around Rentz’s neck and strangled him. But Steinmetz said Martin contributed to the crime by serving as a lookout at the window of the cell door.
Public Defender John Rodgers contended Martin was trying to summon help.
Rentz’s family filed a $5.6 million federal lawsuit against Spokane County for alleged violation of his civil rights.
Martin was awaiting trial on two counts of first-degree aggravated murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder when Rentz was murdered. In May, a jury found Martin guilty of gunning down Donald W. Corey and Thomas N. Morris at a teenage drug and drinking party in a Mead home on Oct. 4, 2003.
The jury also found Martin guilty of attempting to murder the party’s host, Ross G. Baulne. Testimony indicated Martin got angry because he thought someone stole his marijuana pipe, and because Baulne broke Martin’s car window to try to keep him from leaving in a rage.
Martin returned with a .44-caliber lever-action rifle and went on a rampage. He shot at Baulne and missed, and had chambered another round when Baulne and another young man overpowered him.
In addition to two life sentences without parole for killing Morris and Corey, Martin got 27 2/3 years for trying to kill Baulne — all consecutive.