Man who fled to North Dakota convicted of murder

A jury only took about three hours to convict Paul “Chronic” Garner of first-degree murder in connection with the Feb. 18 shooting death of a man on Spokane’s lower South Hill.

The jury of five women and seven men deliberated for an hour on Wednesday and about two hours Thursday before finding Garner guilty of killing 43-year-old Steven Sleizer during a dispute inside the upper apartment at 1612 W. Seventh Ave.

“Oh, I am so happy. We got everything that we wanted,” Sleizer’s mother, Kay Sleizer said after the verdict. “I’m sure Steve will be resting in peace now that justice is done.”

According to testimony and court records, Sleizer was inside the apartment with his girlfriend, Jennifer Makaily, and another man. All were smoking crack cocaine or had just stopped.

Makaily and Sleizer began to argue, and Makaily eventually asked Sleizer to leave the apartment. He refused, according to court records. She then called Garner, who often supplied her with drugs.

Witness Scott Walls told police that Garner forced his way into the apartment and told Sleizer, “You really screwed up this time.” Sleizer responded, “You don’t have to cap me for it,” according to what Walls told Spokane police Detective Kip Hollenbeck.

The two men struggled and Garner, 43, shot Sleizer in the pelvis and in the chest. Sleizer died later that night. Garner fled the scene and was later arrested in North Dakota when a state trooper pulled Garner over because Garner’s window tint was deemed to be too dark.

During the stop, the North Dakota trooper discovered a glass pipe, crack cocaine and suspected stolen property in Garner’s car, which led to his arrest. The trooper called Spokane police after the arrest and learned that Garner was being sought for the murder charge.

Garner’s attorney, Christian Phelps, argued that the evidence presented at the three-day trial did not support a conviction for first-degree murder, which requires the state to show that Garner planned to kill Sleizer prior to the shooting.

“The evidence indicates (Garner) had a dialogue with the victim,” Phelps said. Garner “told (Sleizer) to leave and he refused. We expected a second-degree murder conviction.”

Garner faces an Oct. 17 sentencing where he is looking at a minimum of 240 months in prison plus seven years in weapons enhancements that are required to be served consecutively.

That means Garner, who has no prior felony record, must serve a minimum of 27 years, deputy prosecutor Mark Cipolla said.

“I’m happy with the verdict,” Cipolla said.

Sleizer’s family thanked Cipolla after the verdict by shaking his hands and offering hugs.

“If you ever knew him, you would love him, too, just like we did,” Kay Sleizer said of her son. “I didn’t know he was doing drugs. He never acted like it. He was a perfect son except for this.”

Sleizer worked at his parents’ printing business, she said.

“I hope this will help other people overcome drugs,” Kay Sleizer said. “It just never should have happened.”