Man gets life term in rape, death of girl, 12

TACOMA – A man who admitted kidnapping, raping and killing a 12-year-old Tacoma girl was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole.

Terapon Dang Adhahn, 43, was silent throughout the proceedings in Pierce County Superior Court as Judge Rosanne N. Buckner issued the mandatory sentence in the death of Zina Linnik.

Adhahn made a deal with prosecutors to avoid a possible death sentence in exchange for leading them to Linnik’s body and pleaded guilty last month to 15 crimes, including aggravated first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree rape, for a series of attacks on school-age girls.

The handyman and tow truck driver also pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two other girls, including the kidnap and rape of a middle school student as she was headed to school in 2000.

Linnik was kidnapped July 4 from an alley at her family home while she was outside for fireworks. Her body was dumped in rural Pierce County.

Authorities in other jurisdictions have continued to investigate the possibility that he attacked others, including 10-year-old Adre’anna Jackson, who disappeared on her way to school in Lakewood in December 2005 and was found dead the next day.

Linnik’s slaying prompted state lawmakers to pass laws requiring the collection of DNA samples from a wider array of sex offenders, allowing authorities to publish the names of unregistered sex offenders and authorizing broader use of GPS tracking devices on convicted criminals.