(The Center Square) – Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office says it is weighing all the evidence ahead of the planned release of convicted triple murderer Timothy Pauley, who was granted clemency by former Gov. Jay Inslee as he left office in January.
Pauley was sentenced to life in prison in February 1981, after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder.
In 1980, a 21-year-old Pauley, armed with a revolver, and associate Scott Smith, armed with a knife, entered the Barn Door Tavern near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after closing time and announced they were robbing the establishment.
The pair used extension cords to tie up the three women and two men who were cleaning up. They forced the women to undress and brought the men – night manager Loran Dowell and bartender Robert Pierre – into a walk-in cooler, where Pauley executed them by shooting them in the head.
One of the women, Linda Burford – Pierre’s girlfriend and former waitress at the bar – was strangled by a cord used to tie her to a bar rail. The other two women – cook Sherri Beckham and Margaret Dowell, the wife of slain night manager Loran Dowell – survived.
Kelly Tarp was just 13 years old when her father, Loran, was killed that night, and her mother, Margaret, was tortured and left for dead.
Tarp told The Center Square that their family has been repeatedly traumatized each time Pauley’s case has come up for review regarding sentencing.
In Washington, inmates can petition the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board for release ahead of uncompleted sentences.
“We started getting involved back in 2012 and 2013 when there was no transparency with anything,” Tarp said. “In 2016, we finally felt like we got justice when the board went back and reevaluated the crime to bring him into alignment with current law and the aggravating circumstances, and they resentenced him and added all those years. We finally felt we had justice, and my mom was finally able to take a breath, thinking she was not only honoring my father’s legacy but protecting us because, for so many years, she didn’t want to tell us everything.”
After laws were changed in 1984, Pauley was made eligible for parole.
In 2015, he applied to be released in 2018.
The board denied Pauley’s request and added time to his sentence. Under the decision, he would not have been eligible for parole until 2031.
Tarp tearfully relived the horror of what happened to her parents.
“My dad and Robert were tied up and bound together in the cooler. He [Pauley] opened up the cooler and point-blank executed both of them,” she said. “That’s premeditated murder. He is a psychopath that did that not once, but twice, and then he walked out.”
Tarp said her mother, who passed away and was buried just a day before the family learned of Inslee’s clemency decision, never recovered from the horrific event.
She recalled the night of the incident when her mom came home.
“My mom’s eyes had burst from the blood vessels that night and there were marks permanently around her neck,” Tarp recalled. “When you read the police reports of what happened that night, it’s not something anybody ever wants to read because you can’t forget.”
Tarp said her family and the other victims’ families are not convinced that Pauley is a changed man, and said nothing in their life has ever been the same.
“I lost my mom that night,” she continued. “My mom did the best she could to parent, but none of us were ever the same. The fact that Pauley has just not stayed in prison and been a mentor there and made a difference there, but has continued to fight to get out for release, it shows he’s not accountable for what he’s done.”
Pauley’s attorneys appealed his increased sentence.
In 2022, Inslee denied Pauley’s request for parole. At the time, Inslee said Pauley never took responsibility or apologized to the victims or their families.
“We don’t know what Pauley submitted to Inslee to make him change his mind this time,” Tarp said.
The Center Square reached out to Ferguson’s office for comment.
“Governor Ferguson’s office was recently informed of Mr. Pauley’s impending release, currently scheduled for March 27,” spokesperson Brionna Aho said in an email. “Governor Ferguson has the authority to cancel Mr. Pauley’s parole. Under Washington state law, that authority requires the Governor to thoroughly review the record before making his decision. Our office is currently conducting its review of the extensive record in this matter.”
On Friday morning, Kelly texted The Center Square that the Governor’s Office plans to meet with the family.
“We received a phone call from Camille in Governor Ferguson’s office late yesterday (Thursday) extending an invite for Monday,” she wrote. “We plan on being there with the hopes of having Governor Ferguson look at this and overturn the injustice that Inslee did on his way out the door.”
