Speaking slowly and dabbing his tears with a tissue, former Kirkland resident Conner Schierman asked the jury to spare him his life for being convicted of taking the lives of his four neighbors.
The 28-year-old took the stand for allocution at the end of a trial where a jury will decide whether he gets life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection. Now the jury will move into deliberations.
Previously, the same jury convicted him of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of arson for the fatal stabbings for Olga Milkin, 28, of Kirkland; her sons, Justin, 5 and Andrew, 3; and her sister, Lyubov Botvina, 24 on July 17, 2006. Schierman had moved in across the street just weeks before the murders. No motive for the killings has been found. Schierman had no criminal history prior to his arrest in 2006.
Schierman acknowledged that it had been “a longtime coming,” since his remarks were due to the families of the victims. His voice broke several times and he paused to regain composure.
“I know you don’t want my words, I know you don’t want my tears. You want your family back,” Schierman said. “I can’t give them back to you … I may not have the right to ask anything of you, but I’m asking for your mercy. If not for me, then for my family.”
Defendants in death penalty cases may allocute — take the stand to beg the jury for mercy — without having to face cross examination by the prosecution. Discussing anything about the incidents of July 17, 2006 would have caused that.
“I can’t understand how all of this happened; I struggle with that,” Schierman said.
Schierman claimed he was in an alcohol blackout at the time of the murders then decided to burn down the home on the 9500 block on Slater Avenue because he didn’t think anyone would believe his innocence.
The courtroom was full during the final hearing and there was a noticeable silence when Schierman made his emotional 25-minute statement. Schierman spoke of their pain, saying the Milkin and Botvina families would feel the victims’ loss, “on a much more visceral level than I’ll ever imagine.”
Olga’s husband Leonid Milkin, who was in Iraq at the time of the slayings, had no comment Monday. Pavel Milkin, his father, cried throughout Schierman’s statement.
“I’ve been told by people I’m going to die, I’m going to hell,” Schieman said. “I’m already there.”
In closing arguments, King County Deputy Prosecutor Scott O’Toole told the jury that it was almost four years ago that Sgt. Milkin was about to begin another tour of duty in Baghdad. He promised his children he would be home from the warzone “by the time the leaves turned yellow.” They couldn’t sleep the night before he left, so he gave them a number to count to for his return –100 days.
“Members of the jury, Leonid never saw his wife Olga again,” O’Toole said. “He never saw those two little boys again … This much we know … This man, Conner Schierman, killed all of those people. He stabbed them at least 15 times before cutting their throats.”
Defense Attorney Jim Conroy maintained his client’s innocence. Conroy has been trying to lay out Schierman’s life story to jurors, telling them “who he is, where he came from and how he got here.”
The jury must be unanimous in its decision for the death penalty, otherwise Schierman gets life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“It just takes one reasonable doubt,” Conroy said. “One might think mercy is sympathy … mercy is not sympathy. That is what these (jury) instructions tell you.”
Since he has been incarcerated for the past 1,354 days, Schierman said the experience has taught him how strong he can be and led him to question his faith.
“Being locked up has been a dehumanizing, pride swallowing siege,” Schierman said. “I had firm beliefs in God and what afterlife is like. Now I’m not so sure. I think people are afraid life is all we have.”
Schierman told the jury he had been abused as a young child –something Deputy Prosecutor O’Toole took issue with.
“Give me a break,” O’Toole said. “There is a certain point where you cross the line in society where we say, ‘No!’ … Murder is not a line you should cross … This defendant has not just crossed that line he has gone so far beyond it that he must suffer the ultimate punishment.”
The Reporter will return to King County Superior Court when the jury reaches a verdict.
