Spokane man sentenced in ‘02 killing of 20-year-old

Thu., Jan. 26, 2006

Thomas Clouse Staff writer

A Spokane man convicted of strangling, stabbing and then burying a 20-year-old man in his back yard said Wednesday that he was sorry.

The judge gave Sam L. Hollingsworth extra prison time anyway.

Hollingsworth, 22, previously had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder – with a weapons enhancement – for the Dec. 27, 2002, slaying of 20-year-old Christopher B. Hallahan.

Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Steve Garvin asked Superior Court Judge Ellen Clark to sentence Hollingsworth to 19 years. Clark gave him 21.

The sentencing hearing included testimony by Hallahan’s family and from Hollingsworth himself, Garvin said. “He said he was sorry,” Garvin said. “What he said in court was that he saw red, he had been drinking and he lost control.”

Hallahan came to Spokane from his home in Yakima and moved in with Hollingsworth and his girlfriend, Prudence Leatherman, at 2024 W. Boone. But he soon disappeared.

Hallahan’s family reported him missing in March 2003. Police then interviewed Leatherman and Hollingsworth, according to court records. The couple provided alibis, but police didn’t believe they were telling the truth, Lt. Scott Stephens said in a previous interview.

The case remained unsolved until late August when detectives talked to witnesses who told them Hollingsworth had killed Hallahan and buried him at the now-vacant home, Stephens said.

Detectives again talked to Leatherman, who had since split up with Hollingsworth. She changed her story, telling police that her children had accused Hallahan of molesting them. When Hollingsworth confronted Hallahan with the allegations, she said, the Yakima man denied the claims and Hollingsworth attacked him.

“Leatherman said (Hollingsworth) choked (Hallahan) to unconsciousness and then stabbed him to death,” Garvin said.

The couple wrapped Hallahan in a blanket and buried him.

Detectives Lonnie Toffsrud and Craig Wendt located Hollingsworth on Aug. 31. He first denied involvement, but later admitted to stabbing Hallahan and helping Leatherman bury him in the back yard, according to court records.

On Sept. 1, detectives, forensic technicians and archaeologists from Eastern Washington University spent most of the day unearthing Hallahan’s remains and looking for evidence. Hollingsworth pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

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