Inslee pardons man who killed wife and sister-in-law in 1982 Toppenish case

On a June day in 1982, William Floyd Kincaid shot and killed his wife and sister-in-law in Toppenish, Washington, with a shotgun after learning his wife planned to leave him.

On Monday, outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee granted Kincaid, 75, conditional clemency, freeing him from prison.

Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic, who was in college at the time of the crime, and the victims’ family members have raised objections.

“It was absolutely a grisly homicide,” Brusic said. “It was my position he should fulfill his sentence.”

The governor’s clemency order cites Kincaid’s efforts to reform himself while serving a life-without-parole sentence for aggravated first-degree murder, as well as noting Kincaid’s health problems, including his inability to chew solid food due to a failed suicide attempt after the killings.

But Kincaid could be returned to prison should he violate the terms of the clemency, including regularly reporting to the Department of Corrections, not possessing firearms and taking regular drug and alcohol tests, as well as not committing any new crimes.

Background

Kincaid had lost his job at the sugar beet plant in Toppenish, and his wife, Charla, had moved in with her sister, Debra Kruse.

On June 14, 1982, Kincaid went to Kruse’s house, where he talked to his wife in an attempt at reconciliation, but Charla Kincaid told him that she would not come back and that she would be keeping their son, according to court documents.

Kincaid then overheard Kruse and Charla Kincaid talking about her plans to divorce him. Kincaid walked back to his truck, loaded a magnum shotgun with five 12-gauge shells and went back, first shooting Kruse and then shooting his wife in the head as she hid in a bathroom.

Kincaid also threatened to shoot Kruse’s boyfriend if he didn’t leave, which he did, taking Kruse’s and Charla Kincaid’s children with him, court documents said.

Kincaid then reloaded the shotgun and attempted to kill himself but only succeeded in blowing off part of his jaw.

Brusic recalled that the incident raised concerns in the community.

“It rocked this county, especially Toppenish,” he said.

Kincaid was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the killings and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Clemency board

Brusic testified before the clemency board in May 2022, asking that Kincaid’s clemency request be denied.

While Brusic acknowledged that Kincaid made efforts to improve himself in prison, he said the life-without-parole sentence was still justified.

“At the moment his conversation finished with Charla, he could have simply left in his truck and these two women would still be with their families,” Brusic said in a letter to the board. “He did not. After retrieving his (shotgun) from his truck, he pursued her up the stairs and the end result was the execution of these two young women.”

Steve Close, the victims’ brother, said in a letter to the board that Kincaid’s actions ended the women’s lives too soon and denied them the chance to see their children grow up, while Kincaid likely never gave a second thought to what he did.

“I know (Kincaid) felt that he had the right, but no one has that right for any reason,” Close wrote. “This man should never be let out in the world. What he did was tear the heart out of a whole family.”

Diann Lindauer, a sister of the victims, said the family has been torn apart, with the women’s children dealing with issues from the killing, and another sister who “has thrown her life away because she feels she should have been with (the victims).”

The board tied 2-2 on the question and referred it to Inslee.

The clemency order, which does not erase Kincaid’s conviction, cites his efforts at mentoring fellow prisoners and sharing food or hygiene items with those who didn’t have enough. It also said Kincaid has had only two infractions of prison rules in the 1980s, and has been on good behavior for almost 40 years.

Kincaid has worked several jobs in the prison, becoming an expert in the print shop, as well as becoming active in a prison ministry.

Inslee’s order also cited Kincaid’s failing health. His jaw injury makes it hard to eat solid food, causing Kincaid problems with maintaining weight despite surgeries to reconstruct his jaw.

Kincaid was also diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022 and is being treated for that, the order said.

“Gov. Inslee takes his clemency and pardon power very seriously and uses it rarely, only after careful and thorough consideration,” General Counsel Kathryn Leathers wrote to the clemency board on Inslee’s decision. “He has placed his faith in Mr. Kincaid that he will dedicate himself to living an exemplary life and remaining trouble free.”